


No More Running

by ShadowHalfbreed



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:25:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 62,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowHalfbreed/pseuds/ShadowHalfbreed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a day off for the founders, so Superman and Batman decide to have a little fun with the Flash. But what begins as a funny game of cat and mouse, ends with much deeper emotions being dragged forward, whether or not the scarlet speedster wants to face them, all whilst danger lurks silently around them (I stink at summaries :P sorry).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Going Too Far

**Author's Note:**

> Well, FINALLY have the first chapter of this story ready to go :) It's taken me far longer than I'd ever have expected to get this story done, and like a few others, it was only meant to be a one shot, and now has ended up a few chapters long :P
> 
> This is my first time writing this shipping; For quite awhile now I've loved all three pairings of BatFlash, SuperBat and SuperFlash, and when I very first sat down to start this story, I just couldn't chose between the three...soooo, here was born, a SuperBatFlash story! XD rofl.
> 
> Actually I'm surprised by how much I've come to like all three together, especially since writing a threesome relationship is something new to me (unless I include a couple of my old Yugioh stories :P), I just hope I pulled off this story well enough, remembering in the long run that this was written purely for the fun of it, and originally it was meant to be a short, funny fic...lol, but I'm afraid I have a bad habit of adding a little more drama and emotions to my stories...can't help it! XP
> 
> Oh, just so it's clear, this is set during the Justice League: Unlimited series, but before certain events. Also, just so it's hopefully not confusing...
> 
> . Character thoughts: 'Written like this' in italics.
> 
> . Comm link conversations: "Written like this" in italics.
> 
> Hope that it's clear that way...
> 
> Anyway, enough from me, please Enjoy ^_^
> 
> Warning: There's nothing high rated in this story, but it is non the less a shonenai/yaoi fanfic, so fair warning.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of it's characters, only the plotline of this fanfic.

The passage of days was an instinctively known occurrence; a fact…a part of life as simple and routine as eating and sleeping. Yet up here, beyond the range of said instincts, only the clocks told of how time was indeed still moving at its natural pace.

They told Shiera that it was mid-morning, even though an eternal night was still the view out every window she passed.

It didn't bother her one way or another though. True it had been difficult perhaps in the beginning for all of them to adjust, especially when rotating back to their regular lives on Earth below. But to some manageable degree, their instincts had adjusted enough to make the rotation just a bit easier.

And what a lovely morning it had been so far; A nice breakfast in the cafeteria…a short but great workout…chatting with one of her friends (despite their differences)…seeing her so named little brother come racing along half naked…

_'Wait! What...?'_

Shiera and Diana were brought to a halt as Flash came charging out of his room and leant against the door. The top half of his suit was hanging around his waist, his face a blend of shock and panic.

"Flash...?"

Having not been aware of their presence, the red head almost jumped the full way out of his suit. In typical Flash style though, he tried to brush it off with a grin and confident stance.

"Morning ladies! How's breakfast in the mess hall today?"

"Almost gone, if you haven't had any yet…" Diana answered, "They'll be starting to pack up…"

"No problem, I won't hold them up," Wally grinned, "You know me, I'll be done in a…"

"Flash."

The voice interrupted his cheesy pun, and made the young man's face pale.

"Was that…?" Shiera raised an eyebrow towards his door.

"T-that!?" Flash held his hands up, grinning sheepishly, "…That wasn't anyth…"

"Five seconds head start Flash!"

"Don't so generous, he only needs two."

"Even with _me_ on his tail?"

"Why do think I was allowing TWO seconds?"

"And was THAT…?" Diana copied Shiera upon hearing the second voice from within the room.

His eyes flittering between the girls and his door, Flash suddenly span on the spot, allowing himself an ounce of rather pointless privacy as he pulled his uniform fully on.

"You didn't see me!" He quickly whispered and made to dash past…

…only to turn back to them and beg…

"…pretty please?" And away he ran for real this time.

"Well, we BARELY saw him…" Diana grinned, sharing a laugh with Shiera.

The door beside them slid open; a few months ago, it would've been a very questioned thing, but at least for the rest of the founders, the sight of both the man of steel, and the dark knight exiting the scarlet speedsters room, was no longer much of a shock.

It did still, however, raise a few hackles once in a while…

"What're you two up to?" Shiera questioned in her big sister voice.

"Careful, we might not want to know," Diana teased, making it hard for the Thanagarian to keep a straight face.

"Come on Shiera, which way did he go?" Superman smirked at her.

"You couldn't see through the walls?"

"The Flash had lead panels placed along the inside of his walls," Batman spoke, "…rather surprising, from him at least…"

"Hardly," Shiera stood with her hands on her hips, "Wally told me he'd felt like someone was watching him sometimes when he was alone," She glared at Superman.

"…I meant it was surprising that he didn't make the mistake of trying to use lead paint," Batman finished, "Not that he should have to do either…" He looked to Clark over his shoulder.

"Oh don't you try to shrug it off like you're innocent," Clark quickly countered, " Your reasons for taking so much monitor duty aren't as responsible and work related as you'd love us to believe."

At that, Batman returned his smirk.

"You both know how shy Wally can be!" Shiera scolded, "I don't care if he willingly bounces into most of what you three get up to, if either of you wanted privacy, you'd make sure he couldn't disturb you."

"Well we don't exactly _disturb_ him," Clark grinned.

"Not in the way you're implying…" Shiera retorted.

Diana smiled and touched her friends shoulder. It was too much in the Thanagarians nature to butt heads if challenged, AND to get feistily defensive of those she cared for. But no one there would really do anything to hurt or offend each other…they'd had one true argument within the group, and not one ever wanted to repeat that time.

"Alright, whatever Flash did…or whatever's going on…does he deserve it?" She spoke calmly.

"….Mostly," Clark answered after a moment.

"So, which way did he run?" Batmans patience finished there.

The girls looked to each other.

"You know he probably DOES deserve it a little…" Diana shrugged.

"…Alright…" Shiera sighed, and pointed over her shoulder, "That way…"

Superman went to move, but Batman stopped him. The dark knight stared down Shiera, who looked uncomfortable, and averted her eyes.

"Clark, head towards the mess hall."

"But that's in the other dire…"

"Yes, but sooner or later he'll have to go there," Batman explained, and turned, walking away.

Superman nodded. He flew off down the hall, whilst Batman took a last look at the girls, and walked off in the same direction.

When out of ear reach, Diana smirked.

"Did you just out play BATMAN?"

"Hey, I didn't lie…if he chose not to believe me, it's his own decision," Shiera shrugged, "But I'm curious to see how long it takes him to realise."

"So, are you going to keep helping Wally?"

"Nope. Like you said, he probably has…whatever it is…coming to him, BUT, that doesn't I'm supporting "Team Cape" either."

They shared one more laugh, before continuing on with their original conversation.

* * *

Further down the hall, Batman touched his ear piece.

"Superman?"

_"He's not here yet. You sure Shiera was lying?"_

"I wasn't sure at all, but there's no way she's going to aid us in this."

_"I don't think anyone will. You have to admit, this is rather childish of us."_

"And just who was it that first made the suggestion…?"

_" Touché. So what now? Even with my x-ray vision, I can't look everywhere at once."_

"Stay where you are for the moment, and don't worry, soon he won't be able to hide from either of us."

_"What are you going to do?"_

"Just even the odds a little."

_"How exactly…?"_

Batman smirked.

"What was it you were accusing me of before…?"

* * *

 _'Man this sucks….this so so SO sucks!'_  
  
Wally rubbed his stomach as it grumbled, like a child seeking attention and wondering why it wasn't getting it.

"Easy belly, I know I know…" He stared back in the direction of the mess hall, "…but we don't wanna go in there whilst Captain Primary Colours is lurking…"

Flash had doubled back and taken an alternate route to the mess hall when his stomach had first cried 'empty'. But upon peeking through the doors, he'd found the man in red and blue hovering around calmly.

Superman occasionally turned around, but thankfully he mustn't have been using his x-ray vision, since he didn't react when he turned towards the entrance.

_'Ok, think brain. How to get in…get food…and get out without being caught…'_

He leant back against the wall, fingers on his chin.

_'Maybe a major wedgie for distraction? Hmm…no, too mean…save those for the bad guys. Besides, it would only get me in way more trouble. I suppose if nothing else, I can run in, grab chow and have it to go.'_

Grab food before Supes grabbed him? It could be done, but not without being noticed, and unlike the rest of the Justice League, Superman could give chase AND stand a chance of catching the speedster…

…a very good chance at that.

Flash glanced back through the gap in the door. Superman was on his communicator, perhaps talking to Bats? The dark knight must've been searching elsewhere.

_'Sheesh, kinda glad it's the big blue boy-scout I'm facing down, and not Mr tall, dark and "scare the speed out of me"!'_

Wally suddenly quirked his head, eyebrow raised. It wasn't the first time he or anyone else had referred to the man of steel as a boy-scout, but the speedsters easily distracted mind couldn't help but imagine the tall man in the full outfit; big hat, shorts, badges and all.

A quiet snort left him as a grin cracked over his face.

It died quickly though, as Superman spun right back in his direction.

_'Oh shoot! No way he heard tha…! Oh…right. Superman equals super abilities, equals super HEARING! Smooth one West…'_

"Ready or not Flash…!" Superman smirked widely, ignoring any strange looks he got from others in the mess hall.

"Guess that's a firm and clear _'busted'_ ," Wally back up from the door.

"Here I…"

Flash sped off before the other could finish his sentence, but it only took a second before he heard the cafeteria doors crash open.

"Thinking fast…thinking fast…" Flash mumbled as he raced through the watch tower, "training room…training room…broom closet…ack! Loose bucket!...Training room…training room…bathroom…ooo, GL's room, I wonder if he's got any…wait! Why have I stopped!? Back to running, back to running…!"

He was up two levels of the watch tower before he dared to stop, and still he searched frantically for somewhere to hide.

Store room? Too obvious…trash can? Don't be silly, way too small…and smelly! Air vent? Not bad, but slow…Laundry chute…

"Wait…we have a laundry chute?"

He peered down the gap in the wall; It was fairly large, big enough for one with a slighter build like his.

"Convenient…if it works…do we even use this thing?"

Really, who would want to do the Justice League's laundry?

He jumped when he heard the doors around the corner slide open.

 _'Well…if not for dirty clothes…'_ He made to climb in.

He paused and looked back to the air vent in the ceiling. He jumped up, pulled the grate off, and let it clank loudly on the ground. The footsteps he'd heard around the corner sped up, so he rushed back to the chute and grabbed the top.

"Please don't let me get stuck…" He gritted his teeth and swung down into the space, fighting with himself not to yell out at the drop.

Supergirl and Fire came around the corner, searching for the source of the noise.

"So that's what it was? How did that happen?" Fire queried as they walked towards the fallen grate.

"HELLOOO!?" Kara called up into the vent, and waited for a moment.

She used her x-ray vision to check the vents around the hall, before shrugging.

"Must've just needed a repair…" She moved towards the chute.

Her arms were full of dirty clothes, which she dumped down the hole.

"Since when would anything in the tower be allowed to go without repair?" Fire continued, following her actions with her own laundry.

Kara grabbed the grate and hovered just under the vent. She held the metal in place and carefully used her heat ray to meld it back into place.

"Nothing does," She smiled playfully.

Fire shook her head, but returned the grin.

* * *

Wally managed not to cry out until the end, when the vent ended, and he landed in a large, soft but smelly bundle.

He gasped for air as he popped his head back out.

"The stink…the STINK!" He choked out, hanging over the edge of the giant clothes basket, "…soooo rank!"

He just hung there coughing for a moment, a bit dramatic true, but it really was rather foul in there.

"At least that vent finally ended, I was about to claim claustrophobic!" He panted, "…so we really do have a laundry service here? Seriously, why didn't anyone tell me abo– OOF!"

A new batch of clothes rained down on him. He groaned and rested his chin on the edge of the bin.

"Well…I guess it would be pretty awkward if your washing machine at home broke down and you had to try washing your uniform at the laundromat…"

He grumbled as he pulled a piece off his head, only to freak and drop it when he realised it was female lingerie.

Flash was a flirt…hell, a Casanova wannabe as some had called him…but he wasn't pervy enough to look through ladies underwear…

…anyway, trying it in the watch tower would also spell one big, painful death penalty if he was caught!

Shuddering at the thought of an enraged Wonder Woman, he climbed out of the basket, shaking off any loose clothing bits.

"EEWWW!" He tossed away a set of red underwear that got caught on his foot.

Rather stylishly designed, yes…

…but not made for a FEMALES body!

"Don't know…don't WANNA know…will try not to have nightmares about it!"

He looked around the room then. Fairly dark with the lights turned out, but indeed it looked used enough.

The quiet of the room was actually kind of pleasant to, so he let his feet wander as his mind started turning.

"Just what's got into Supes and Bats today anyway? I must've done something REALLY bad to get them both after me, but what?"

He leant back against one of the washing machines; as far as he could recall, he hadn't done anything particularly bad or annoying lately, just the usual wise crack here and there.

"Maybe all the jokes have just finally built up into one big thing?" He shrugged to himself.

"Guess again."

Flash doubted he could've screamed louder at the voice over his shoulder, and jumped away…literally! With his speed, he wound up on the other side of the room…right back in the clothes bin.

"GAH…! Huh? Oh come on…!" He groaned as he pulled the same red undies off his head.

Laughter brought his attention back to the man floating closer to him.

"I-I don't get…how'd you…?"

"Let's say a little birdy told me, ok?" Kal grinned, "…or to be more specific, a birds teacher."

Not stopping to think about it, Wally started grabbing bundles of clothes, and in a flurry of arms, pelted them at the man of steel.

Kal swatted a few away, but at that speed, he was soon buried and looked like a colourful snowman.

Wally almost made the mistake of laughing again, but as Kal poked his arms out the sides of the cloth mass, he squeaked and threw a few more t-shirts, before zooming out of the laundry…once he stopped scurrying enough to find the door.

Kal ended up having to rise off the ground just to free himself, and turned towards the exit.

_"Well you made THAT too easy for him."_

"Oh like you wanted it to be easy for _us_ ," Kal smirked, touching his ear, "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy seeing him jump like that."

_"Not the point; you still wasted a great chance to catch him."_

"Like I said, where's the fun in making this too easy?"

* * *

"How'd he know, how'd he know!?"

Flash took a break near….where was he…? Oh, one of the main meeting rooms. Wow, that was fast even for him; he was back near the top of the tower again!

_'Why did I never realise how many stairs we have here until now? I must use the elevators more than I thought…and those things are so slow!'_

Well, slow by a speedster's view point anyway…

"How'd he find me so fast? I didn't even hear him enter! He…he'd have had to be there before me! That's why the lights were out. But even if he'd realised where I'd gone, there's no way he could've…"

_'A little birdy told me…'_

"Since when did Clark start talking in riddles? He's always been pretty straight fowa…"

His eyes widened then.  
_  
_ "A little birdy…OR…a bird's teacher…" He mumbled, before slapping his head, "…bird equals Robin…bird's teacher equals Batman!"

The dark knight must've seen him somewhere. Hmm…maybe it was _him_ that he'd heard coming before he'd jumped down the chute? The whole air vent trick wouldn't likely have fooled the tactician, but surely even then he couldn't have figured it out fast enough to warn Superman where Wally was g…

"Oh…" The answer caught his attention then, like a blinking red light in a dull grey street at night.

It first made him frown in annoyance (not to mention a bit of embarrassment), but then he grinned that grin that most in the Justice League would know as a warning of something highly cheeky approaching.

* * *

" _Batman, I haven't seen him for a while. Any luck?"_

"Not yet. It would seem he's either figured it out and is dodging the cameras, or he's gone into hiding somewhere without surveillance."

_"About the only places like that are closets and people's personal bathrooms. Should I check his bedroom?"_

"Negative. I've been keeping an eye on it, and he's made no attempt to return there."

_"At least to my eyes, there's a fair number of places he could be hiding. Remind me again why we have so many random pieces of lead built in everywhere?"_

"Give me a sec. I'm going to try switching to the thermal imaging. It may not see through walls, but it may help us to…wait."

_"What?"_

Batman raised an eyebrow as he looked to one of the top right monitors. An image had appeared in place of what should've been the front of the gym. It was naught more than a white back ground with a large red arrow pointing to the left.

Something moved out the corner of his eye, and he looked left to see the next monitor sporting the same image, except that the arrow was pointing down.

No sooner had he seen it, that the monitor right below joined the other two.

One by one, he watched the right side monitors change almost faster than he could follow the arrows.

"Superman! Where are you!?"

_"Only a few feet from where I was…why?"_

"Flash is on the move, he's…!"

_"…Batman? You still there…?"_

The dark knight had broken off in his sentence as he looked to the final monitor left free on the right hand side. It showed the outside of the door to the security room, where he was currently working.

Arms all too casually crossed over his chest, Flash leant against the wall there, smirking straight at the security camera…

…at Batman himself.

The speedster playfully saluted and poked his tongue out, before hitting the panel next to the door.

Batman heard the door hiss open, and a gust blew his cape up around him. He jumped to his feet, but he barely saw the scarlet blur before he finished fiddling near the base of the console, and rushed back out of the room.

Batman looked back to the monitors, but now everyone…left right and centre…were all black and lifeless; Flash had pulled the wires out.

He crouched to rewire, only to grumble at what he found.

"Wally…" He growled, holding the yarn ball of effectively tangled wires.

_"Batman! Has your communicator stopped working or something?"_

"No Clark, Flash was just here."

_"There? Well no wonder I can't find him, I wasn't even searching in that direction. Where is he now?"_

"Can't tell, he's blinded the cameras, and by the looks of it, the thermal imagining as well. It'll take a while to get it all back up."

_"It sounds like something he'd do, although even he must realise it's pretty irresponsible…"_

"He'd just say that it sounded like a good idea at the time."

_"So we're on a wild goose chase unless I can spot him and catch him off guard?"_

"Not entirely. I can still track his communicator. Anyone else and it would hard to tell with so many communicators in one tower, but since our favourite speedster's version of a calm walk is cheetah speed…"

_"Alright, which way then?"_

"First things first. He wants to get a bit irresponsible? Then we'll play his game."

_"Bruce…why do I get the feeling this 'game' is about to get more serious than it should?"_

"I always play seriously Clark."

_"Well if you were only 'playing serious' when you growled at me during yesterday's mission, I'm rather glad I didn't see you actually mad."_

"Very funny. Remember that I wasn't the first one to miss catching him today."

_"Hey, if 'you' want to try chasing him, then be my guest. I'm sure that would be quite a show."_

"Just go where I say. He has an edge on us, so let's get one on him."

* * *

"Come on, you've gotta have something!"

"I'm sorry Flash, we're all packed up now."

"Anything at all! Pancakes? Sausage? A breakfast roll someone didn't want? Heck, I'll settle for an apple or six..."

"I'll, check and see if we have anything I can grab for you…" The worker headed out the back.

"Thanks man, _we_ appreciated it!" Flash patted his stomach, as though it were still a complaining child, "Down belly, don't be rude!"

"That stomach of yours is so loud, I think we could use it as an alarm sometimes."

He looked up at the laughing voice. Green Lantern had entered the cafeteria, and walked up to him.

"Yeah well, it feels like my stomachs on yellow alert or something…and at this rate, red alert isn't far off."

"Drama queen," GL teased, "So where were you at breakfast? There was actually enough food for everyone else today."

"Oh ha ha. I was right here….and there…and everywhere in between…" Flash shrugged, sitting on one of the tables.

"And…that translates as?" GL raised an eyebrow.

"Uuhh…say, didn't pass Bats or Supes on the way here did ya?"

"Hm? I haven't seen Batman yet today," GL shrugged, "But Superman wasn't far behind me if you were looking for him."

The lantern looked confused as the younger males face drained of colour.

"Uuum…HOW far behind exactly?"

"Someone looking for me?"

Flash almost fell of the table as he turned back to the entrance. Superman was standing there with an innocent expression, but it was only moments away from turning sly…which he DIDN'T try to hide.

"I think Wally was, but…" GL cut off in his sentence at a loud thud, as Flash lost his balance and fell, "…is…something going on?"

"Nothing at all. Right Flash?" Superman said casually, strolling over.

Oh did his face ever spell out _'you're in trouble'!_

"Y-yeah…nothing…at all…"

There was an awkward pause just long enough to realise what was coming, before gusts of scarlet and blue burst around the cafeteria, from one end to the other.

"WHOA!" GL dived under a table, covering his head as the others raced past, making the tables shake, " You two want to let others get out of the firing line first!?"

Flash raced close to the wall, skidding out of the way as Superman literally swooped at him.

The space was confined enough that speed wouldn't be as much help as usual. Instead he had to trust in his agility to dodge out of the way; Supes could keep up with him, but he couldn't change directions so easily.

"Flash!" The worker came out from the back then, a couple of apples in his hands, " They said I could give you a few…"

His smile faded as he saw the commotion taking place.

"Go long dude!" Flash waved from one of the table tops.

He jumped to the next one as his chaser made another grab at him.

GL could only grumble as they passed over his hiding spot. The worker on the other hand, looked to the apples, and without a clue of what else to do, he threw them as far across the room as he could.

Flash zipped around a few times, before jumping through the air to catch the fruit…

…only for Superman to beat him to it, snatching an apple in each hand before they reached the speedster.

"SUUUPPPEEESS!" Wally whined as he stood from a less than graceful landing, "That's not playing nice!"

"Oh?" Kal turned to face him, still smiling, "Well how selfish of me…"

He took a bite from one apple, then held out the other.

"…I'd be happy to share?"

Flash stared longingly at the apple. He was on the verge of drooling, but he didn't trust that playful glint in the Kryptonians eyes.

"On second thought…I don't think I want it anymore…"

"You sure?" Kal took another bite, and indicated to Wallys mouth.

Oh…so he WAS drooling…

Wally promptly wiped it away.

"You're just being seriously mean now…"

He turned and zoomed out of the cafeteria.

"Just what are you up to?" GL frowned as he crawled out of hiding, "I'd expect this kind of behaviour from Flash, but not from you Clark. And since he asked about Batman, do I dare assume he's involved as well?"

"And others say _I_ get uptight _,_ " Kal laughed, and threw the spare apple back to the lantern, "Don't worry, I'll come back and clean up in here when I'm done."

"Done with what? Trashing the rest of the watch tower?"

"John, it's that rare day all the founding members get a day off. Just enjoy it," Kal chuckled, and left the mess hall.

"I _was_ enjoying it before I nearly got swept up by a man made whirlwind!" GL grumbled loudly.

* * *

"Man, forget this! I think I'm gonna collapse of hunger before they call off the hunt!"

Wally was starting to feel the lack of breakfast; he knew he wasn't running as fast as he should've been able to. He could definitely still outrun Supes, but if this kept up…

"Well, if I can't have a late breakfast….then maybe an early lunch!"

He changed course, nearly knocking over Red Tornado and Vigilante as he went by. Keeping an eye out, he made his way to the main deck, where the tele porter was.

As he got to the controls though, he felt his heart sink.

"H-hey guys…what's going on?"

"Hello Flash, just some repairs," J'onn offered a kind smile as he indicated to Mr. Terrific and a casual worker sorting through the wires beneath the controls.

"No no, that goes over there!" Terrific pointed out, the worker nervously complying with his order.

New guy, it would seem…

"Was there, something you needed Flash?" J'onn continued when the speedster was silent.

"For…you guys to not tell me…those repairs are for the tele porter…?" Flash mumbled weakly.

"Yeah. Some nut bag on board decided it would be hilarious to rearrange all the wiring," Green Arrow answered as he leant against the control board.

"One or two of the wires are even cut. Not just worn or frayed, actually cut!" Black Canary put in.

"Make that cut and burnt," Terrific corrected her as he held up a wire.

Clean cut, but also looking singed.

"Blow for blow…hey Supes?" He grumbled, trying to imagine how the Kryptonian could've pulled that off without being noticed.

"Pardon Flash?"

"Oh, Uuhh…nothing J'onn," He grinned sheepishly, "So umm…how long do you think it'll take to get the tele porter back up and running? Just out of curiosity of course."

The Martian gave him a look, and sensing what was coming, Wally quickly spouted out;

"J'onn, you don't wanna look up there right now," He indicated to his head, "I missed breakfast this morning, so all you'll find in there at the moment are dreams of waffles and cheese burgers."

"Separate or together?" Canary teased.

"A bit of both," Wally shrugged, not noticing her surprised look of disgust, "Look, would you mind letting me know when the tele porter's back online? I think the old stomachs about to go on strike," He joked.

"Oh, hey Superman!"

 _'Already!?'_ The call from below made him jump again.

"Tacos and milkshakes on me if you get it up and running pronto…" He spoke in hush, though he knew it would be of little use, "…thanks guys!"

He left in a scarlet streak, the others unsure of what to say. Green Arrow was the one to break the silence.

"Eh, free tacos? I'm in."

"Did I just miss Flash by chance?" Kal floated up to the platform, his smile showing he already knew the answer.

"You wouldn't be picking on him by chance would ya?" Arrow answered slyly.

"What do you mean?" Still Kal looked innocent about it.

"I don't think I've seen him more scared," Canary laughed, though her smile suddenly faded, "…he's not in _real_ trouble is he?"

"No, Flash wouldn't run if he knew he'd actually done something wrong," Kal assured her.

"So you _are_ just….teasing him?" J'onn spoke.

This time Kal let a guilty edge touch his lips.

"Superman…" Mr. Terrific sat up then, "…I'm sorry to ask, but…know anything about this?" He held up the cut wires.

The man of steel lost all humour in his face.

"No, THAT I don't know anything about…" He frowned as he inspected the damage.

"I'm sorry, it's just…"

"No, I understand why you'd ask, but this is my first time in here today."

"It can't have been this way for very long. I used the tele porter to get here just this morning, maybe two hours ago?" Canary said.

"I only started _one_ hour ago, and it all looked fine, but some of the others tried to use it about ten minutes ago, and that's when we found it like this." Terrific added.

"So it happened within the last hour? Who was at the controls before you?"

"Not sure, I'll check the roster."

"Not just that. Try to find out if anyone else was in here during that time, or who tried to use the tele porter."

"Yes sir."

"Arrow, can you find Kara for me?"

"Kara? Come on, the kid wouldn't…"

"I know she wouldn't, but just to be sure. Batman's in the security room, I'll check if he's noticed anything."

He left the room then. Arrow looked to the repairs going on.

"Ok you two, move over and let me try."

"You don't know what you're doing…" Terrific argued.

"Obviously you've never heard of Queen Industries pal," Arrow fiddled under the controls.

There was a loud crashing sound, before he held up a bunch of wires.

"No, obviously I haven't," Terrific said sarcastically as he was handed the wires.

"You think I didn't do that on purpose? It'll go a lot faster if you just replace that mess with new ones." Arrow stood and dusted himself off.

"That'll take forever!"

"As long as it would AFTER detangling the wires? They'll probably all be frayed by the time you finish anyway."

"This…probably wasn't the best way to go about it," J'onn answered him.

"Oh come on, I know you want some of those milkshakes Flash promised," Arrow teased as he walked away.

J'onn made to reply, but shut his mouth again.

* * *

Superman made sure he was out of ear reach, before touching his comm link.

"Couldn't wait for me to get there?"

_"What're you going on about?"_

"…Sorry, that was wrong of me, but when you said to make it _look_ like the tele porter wasn't working? Well, someone beat me to the punch."

_"…The tele porter ISN'T working?"_

"It's been tampered with. The wires are all jumbled, a few even cut."

_"Sounds like what Wally did in here earlier, except he didn't damage any wires. He'd know better than to go so far."_

"How're you going in there anyway?"

_"Nearly done. The wires weren't as tightly wrapped as they looked. Seems Flash only intended to slow us down rather than stop us completely."_

"I guess he's a little wiser than we give him credit for," Kal gained a fond smile.

_"Maybe, but if you DARE say that to him…!"_

Kal couldn't help but laugh, and he didn't doubt that his rival was really grinning on the inside.

"I'll keep an eye open, let me know once the monitors are back up."

_"Roger that. Clark…?"_

"…yeah Bruce?"

_"…Nothing."_

Kal shook his head lightly.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

* * *

"Thirty eight…thirty nine…"

Wally counted out loud as he plucked the last of the papers from the security cameras. They still seemed to be offline, but he couldn't help wincing each time, certain they'd suddenly turn in his direction.

"I think that's all of them…" He sighed as he slid down against the wall

It made the whole prank earlier seem pointless, especially when he'd had to draw up all the arrows in the first place, but he'd known from the start he couldn't leave them there; calm day or not, this was still the watch tower.

He let out a soft whine as he stomach growled louder than ever.

"I know…I know…" He mumbled sadly.

He grabbed one of the sheets of paper between his teeth and gnawed at it. Heck, it made him feel at least an ounce better.

_'Too hungry…stop it stomach, you're me making me start to smell food! Mmmm, cheese…pepperoni…tomato…it can only be…!'_

His head shot up to see three figures approaching, the middle one carrying a large, flat box.

"…PIZZA!"

Hawk, Dove and Elongated Man all came to a halt at the outcry. It was a most unusual sight that greeted them; Flash huddled against the wall before them, hugging a bundle of paper as one piece was stuck to his mouth.

"Good…good day Flash. Is everything…alright?" Dove asked kindly.

Flash shook the paper free and dashed over to them.

"Hey guys….this is super major awkward to ask…but I kinda missed breakfast this morning, but I've had to run…uuuhh… _do_ a lot of running around, and now the tele porter's not working…and well, you know…hyper charged metabolism and all, so…do you think, I could...please, possibly…?"

"Have a slice of pizza? Certainly Flash," Dove ignored his brothers protests as he took the box, "Luckily there's one slice left."

Flash wanted to hug the boy in relief, but before he got the chance, Dove jumped as an arm came around from behind him.

Elongated Man reached around both brothers to snatch the last slice straight from the box.

"Sorry," He spoke through a mouthful, "He means there _was_ a slice left."

Flash went from wanting to cheer, to wanting to cry.

"Now that was just rude," Dove scolded.

"Calm down Don, it was just a joke," Hawk rolled his eyes.

" _You_ would hardly see it as a joke Hank."

"Oh spare me! If he wants some food so badly, he can just go to the mess hall."

"There's pizza in the mess hall?" Flash almost whispered.

"Not likely, lunch hasn't started yet," Elongated smirked.

"Yeah, we got this from earth just before the tele porter broke," Hawk joined in.

"Come on guys, you don't have to be mean about it…" Flash hugged his now roaring stomach, "…I tried going to earth only about five minutes ago, but the tele porter was busted."

"Too bad, you'll just have to be faster next time Flash," Hawk taunted.

"Hank!" Dove began as the other two laughed.

He stopped though as he noticed Flash's face; the speedsters eye was twitching, and slowly, both eyes were narrowing to form an expression that made the kinder hero back away.

"Umm…Hank…Hank…?"

* * *

_"Checks complete; all cameras back up and functional."_

"Do you have full visual? Because I don't see any of the papers you told me about," Superman stared at one of the cameras as it turned towards him.

_"Flash's communicator passed this way not long ago. He must've decided to take them down."_

"Has he not appeared on the cameras anywhere yet?"

_"Not yet, but I can see where he just was…you should be able to hear it from there."_

"You mean that yelling? It just sounds like some of the younger recruits messing around."

_"Not exactly…"_

"Alright, I'll check it out."

Superman flew off in the direction of the commotion, barely taking a few seconds before super hearing wasn't required to catch the rather profound language in use.

"Hank, do I have to get the soap again? Your choice of words won't make this go any faster."

"Faster!? You're not even trying!"

"If you calm down I might."

Not really certain he wanted to see, Kal walked around the corner, and knew Batman had been right.

Dove was leaning against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose, caught somewhere between grinning and frowning.

On the floor before him were Hawk and Elongated Man…both hogtied! Hawk with the red, cape like bits of his uniform, and E-Man with…well, his own limbs wound together!

But the REAL give away to the culprit? An empty pizza box on the floor.

"Please tell me you didn't taunt the Flash with food?" Kal raised his hand to mimic Dove.

Sure he'd teased with the apple earlier, but he knew the limit to push with the Flash; he would've handed it over if Wally had actually tried to take it.

"We didn't do anything!"

"You took the slice I'd already offered to Flash."

"So what? I bought it!"

"You bought _half_ of it."

"Dove, please untie them," Kal sighed, turning away.

"Yeah, hurry up already!" E-man whined.

"….on second thought, go grab a coffee, THEN come back."

"Yes sir."

Kal touched his communicator, covering his other ear to block out the protests.

"Batman, it might be time for us to call an end to this game…he's ticked off."

_"Was bound to happen eventually. Besides, it looks like we may have bigger issues to be concerned with…"_

"Has something else happened?"

_"I don't trust how the tele porter was damaged. A snapped wire or a few tangles could've just been bad maintenance, but this was intentional sabotage, and we already know it wasn't Wally goofing off."_

"You're right. I guess our day off is cancelled. I'll find Wally, you get the others."

_"Catch him, and this time don't let him get away…"_

"Oh really? Bruce get passed it, I…"

_"I'm serious! You know what he's like when someone actually manages to piss him off, his stubbornness goes up tenfold. So catch him BEFORE talking to him! Like you said, the game's over."_

"Fair enough," Supes turned back, "which way did Flash go?" He looked to the bound heroes.

"No clue. He rambled something about a…aaaa…?" Hawk looked to E-Man.

"A _super-secret-flash-stash_ , and then he took off," Elongated finished.

"Oh no…" Kal held his head in his hand, before flying away, "…Batman, brace for impact…we're about to lose all control of this ship…"

* * *

"NO! No no no no noooo!"

Flash tipped the large box up for the fiftieth time, but still the missing snacks failed to appear.

"This can't be happening…I looked in here just yesterday, and there was plenty!"

He clung to it still like in false hope, as he charged around his room, searching in and under EVERYTHING…even behind the toilet in the en suite.

"Doesn't make sense, I didn't touch anything between yesterday and now, so where…?"

A knock interrupted his ranting.

"Flash? I'm coming in."

His eyes widened, before narrowing as he heard Supes enter behind him.

"Wally?" Kal spoke cautiously.

Flash didn't move, except to hold up the box.

" YOU did this, didn't you…?"

Whoa! That level of venom in his voice did not suit him one bit.

_'Catch him, THEN talk to him.'_

Not really Kals style, but in this case…

In a blur, he attempted to grab the speedster, who easily dodged out of the way. This time though, he didn't make a run for the door.

"DID you do this, Kal!?" Now Wally looked straight at him furiously.

_'Didn't see this joke getting so out of control…oh well, gotta bite the bullet I guess…'_

"Yes, I did…I just…"

Flash threw the box on the ground in rage.

"You JUST crossed the line! Taunting me with food is one thing, but stealing another's private stash is going too far!"

"I didn't steal them, they're just hidden…"

"Oh yeah? Then why can't I find them? I turned this room upside down!"

"Because I put them in the one place you never remember to check…as you've clearly done now."

"Drop the sarcasm!"

"Then lower your temper, Wallace West, and I'll tell you where they are, but right now we have bigger things to worry about. We think…"

"Don't want to hear it!" Flash turned away.

"WALLY!"

The younger man visibly flinched, but when he looked back, he was scowling.

"Why don't you go ahead and tell me to grow up…?" He spoke darkly.

"Because I know how much you hate anyone saying it…even when YOU know you deserve it."

This time when the speedster looked away, Kal could see his face just enough to know he was agreeing with the man of steel; Wally knew too well he could act really immature, but the other founders were starting to learn that…unlike a child…he was NEVER proud of himself for it.

"Wally…" Kal stepped forward slowly, watching Flash as he inched away, "…I promise, I didn't come to fight…"

There was something more to this; Flash had a surprising temper when he wanted, yes, but right now he was more than just angry.

He was…scared…?

Flash's comm link went off, and he turned his attention away.

"Go ahead J'onn…"

_"Flash, apologies if I'm interrupting anything. The tele porter has just been repaired, we're running the last few tests now."_

"Thank you J'onn!" Flash said loud and exaggerated.

He was frowning again as he stepped back to the door.

"Flash, don't…!"

"Sorry Supes, but it's not exactly like I'm much use right now anyway," Wally hit the button to open the door.

It hissed open behind him, but the speedster yelped as a mass crashed into his back, and found his arms pinned to his sides.

"How did I know you would try talking first!?" Batman growled at Clark as he held the struggling Flash.

"Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down Flash," Kal spoke firm but still tried to be gentle.

"quite struggling, I don't need super human strength to hold you," Batman tightened his grip.

"You know what one of your more annoying habits is Bats?" Flash was looking furious once more, "Your damn arrogance in believing YOU'RE the only one who knows how to get around their weaknesses…!"

The speedster stopped struggling, but only for a moment. The next thing, he started vibrating at a high speed, and Bruce's expression quickly changed to a pained one.

He grunted loudly, and was forced to let go of his quarry, who wasted no time in escaping the room.

"Bruce!" Kal moved to him.

The dark knights suit was sturdy, but he could see where the vibrating had worn at the arms at chest, leaving a nasty red in its wake, nothing serious but sort of like a major Chinese burn.

"Are you…?"

"Go after him!"

"Bruce…"

"Clark! Something is going on! I couldn't get through to J'onn or anyone before to tell them not to let him use the tele porter…now go!"

"But…J'onn just called him about the tele porter…"

"Clark!"

Superman reprimanded himself, and grabbed hold of Bruce. He held on tight as he flew them through the watch tower.

"I don't know how this is happening, but someone is messing us around. Flash is probably through the tele porter by now."

"Bruce don't worry, we'll catch him."

"The Flash?"

"We WILL catch him!"

They didn't take long to get to the main deck, but there was no sign of the man in red and gold.

"Arrow, where did Flash teleport to!?" Batman headed to the control panel.

"Flash…?"

"Should we assume Central City?" Kal moved to the platform.

"Superman, Flash hasn't been back since earlier," J'onn spoke, " I was expecting him soon, but he hasn't shown up as of yet.

Superman and Batman looked to each other.

He could've been to earth and back by now…" Kal almost mumbled.

Batman moved across the control panel to another section to check something.

"His comm link isn't showing up anywhere in the watch tower, so he's definitely headed back to earth somehow. If he didn't use the tele porter though, then how…?"

The man of steel and the dark knight seemed to hit the same thought at the same time. Batman touched his communicator.

"This is Batman to Javelin bay; I need to know if anyone's left the bay in the last two minutes!"


	2. What Truth Lurks in the Dark?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankyou to all who've read and left kudos on this story :)
> 
> It's funny, because all that happens now was originally unplanned, this story was meant to be a lot shorter, but honestly? I like how it's come out...thank you imagination XP
> 
> This chapter and the next were actually supposed to be one whole, but together they made one VERY long chapter, even by my usual standards, and I felt there was just too much happening to put it all in one...so...extra chapter :P
> 
> I really hope this chapter lives up to the first one...I must confess, action scenes are not my strong point.
> 
> Any way, please enjoy :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot line for this fanfiction.

"Thanks for the lift!"

"It's fine Flash…" Diana chuckled as the speedster jumped out of the javelin, "…though a little warning next time you decide to stow away would be nice, rather than sitting up halfway to Earth."

"Heh, yeah, sorry about that…" Flash grinned, holding the back of his head.

He'd given the amazon such a nasty fright he was certain they were doomed to crash.

"Are you going to get in trouble for going off course?"

"Don't worry, we didn't have any missions today, remember? I just wanted to go to earth and couldn't wait for them to fix the tele porter."

"But they fixed it just before we left…"

"And I was already in the Javelin bay. Besides, I haven't flown for a while."

"Fair enough. Well, thanks for making the detour."

"I know you're still trying to avoid Batman and Superman. If the tele porter is fixed, then they're probably already in Central City by now, are you sure this is close enough?"

"Yeah no problem, I've run between there and here before, it'll only take a minute…give or take a few seconds…"

His stomach interrupted their laughing.

"Better get going," Diana winked as the top of the Javelin closed again.

Flash gave her the thumbs up, and took off towards his home town. He went directly to his apartment and changed out of his uniform into casual clothes.

Yeah ok so Bats and Supes had seen what he really looked like…his bright red hair still didn't stand out as much as a red and gold body suit!

"Still…" He mumbled as he pulled a cap on.

His reflection returned the frown; he didn't much like the look, but at least it did the job.

He was walking back out the apartment, scanning the streets for anyone dressed in black or blue, when the sunlight reflected off his ring. Hesitantly, he pocketed it;

he couldn't trust Batmans keen eye for subtle details like that…

Finding the balance between casual and too casual proved harder than he thought as he made his way around the streets. He spent just enough time as Wally West to be able to keep himself at a regular human pace, but that didn't mean it wasn't frustrating, and he could do nothing for his stomach as it announced his presence to everyone who passed him.

"Ok, no time to be picky Wally…first place with food is the one…"

He smiled in relief as he came to a restaurant, and entered. However, not two minutes later, he came rushing out, hand over mouth as he leant against the door.

"Ok…first place with REAL food is the one…" He corrected, groaning as his stomach now churned for a different reason.

He had to walk a while to get to anywhere else with food, but finally one of his favourite pizza places sat across the road.

"Finally."

He was about to make a dash for it, when a loud sound broke through the city noise, one he knew too well;

A sonic boom.

_'Don't panic…don't panic…'_ He tried to calm himself as he turned his gaze like everyone else around him.

Indeed there was the man of steel floating above the buildings, searching the streets. He couldn't yet see the Dark Knight, but he'd be close for certain.

That scared Wally more than the man whom he lay right in plain sight of; Batman was too good at catching suspicious behaviour, meaning if he tried sneaking away whilst Bats was watching somewhere…

"Come on out!" Superman yelled from above.

Oh crud, he sounded mad. Wally could delay by standing with the crowds, but only until Supes came for a closer look, which he no doubt would.

_'Supes should be able to hear my heart beat from there. Maybe he can't pinpoint it with all these people around? Dang! If I could just see Bats…'_  
  
It was early afternoon on a clear sunny day! How could a man in a black bat suit be missed!?

"Because he's the damn batman of course…" Wally grumbled.

He realised Superman was yelling again.

"GET OUT HERE NOW, GRODD!"

_'Wait…Grodd?'_

There was a crash then, and Wally spotted the giant gorilla in question. He fired some ray gun at Superman, who easily dodged and countered with his own lasers.

The crowd around him began running, and instinct initially caused him to follow. However, duty quickly caught him up.

"Someone is really against me today!" He yelled to the sky, and darted down an alleyway.

* * *

"You're in the wrong city Superman, this is no concern of yours!" Grodd growled as he kept firing.

"I didn't exactly come looking for you either," Kal frowned as he dodged, "But since we're both here…"

Superman flew down and straight into Grodd, both his fists slamming into his stomach.

The ape wasn't so much hurt, but was still sent flying back.

Before he hit the ground though, a gust almost knocked Kal himself over. He saw a flash of red and gold circle Grodd, then disappear as the ape hit the pavement, arms and legs bound heavily with chains.

As Grodd groaned loudly, Flash reappeared next to him, holding a pair of cymbals, which he repeatedly crashed around Grodds head. It was enough that even Kal flinched.

Grodd was badly dazed, and stopped his struggling.

Flash threw the cymbals aside, and met Kals gaze briefly, before speeding off again.

"Flash wait!" Superman tried, but looked back to Grodd.

The gorilla was out cold, but he wouldn't stay that way forever. Those chains were thick, but against one with strength like Grodds…

"Clever…" Kal frowned as he caught on to Wally's play.

He grabbed one of the chains and lifted Grodd as he took to the air. He couldn't go after Flash right now, but he could still follow him in another way.

"I have him in sight, he's heading your way…"

* * *

"Helloooo Keystone, long time no see…"

Wally was back in his regular clothes after travelling to Centrals sister gem city. He had to question why he didn't visit here more often; as the Flash, travel time wasn't exactly an issue…

Then again, it had taken longer than it should have for him to find a place quiet enough to change out of his uniform. If he could afford it, he'd have considered renting a small place in the city just for the privacy!

Feeling more relaxed…or as relaxed as he could…he quickly found a nice looking place to eat, and entered. He took a seat in one of the back booths, and was grateful when a waitress came quickly.

"What can I get for you sir?"

"Let's see…" Wally made no subtle act of speed reading the menu, "For now, I'll take five triple beef and cheese burgers with extra bacon, three large fries and the largest sized soda you have…forgot to check the drinks menu…"

He realised the waitress was staring at him in disbelief.

"…What?"

"Is…is that order…to go, sir?" She couldn't help but ask.

She was clearly trying to make sense of such a big order, but Wally was too hungry to care.

"To go? No way…I'm NOT moving until I've eaten!" He crossed his arms and looked away.

He glared at the wall for a moment, but his conscience was as quick as his feet, and kicked him just as hard.

"Hey…" he stood as the waitress was walking away, "…I'm sorry, that was wrong of me. I've…not been having a good day…sorry for the temper…"

He offered a smile, and was so happy when she smiled back and said it was no problem. Wally sighed heavily as she walked away, hanging his head as his eyes absently went to the windows across the room.

_'CRUD!'_

His butt actually hurt with how fast he sat down.

_'Please say he didn't see…please say he didn't see…'_ He kept his head low, covered with his hands.

Now he regretted thinking he was safe enough in Keystone to go without wearing the cap.

He glanced around the decorative pot plants that hid his booth, and to his dismay, saw tall dark and handsome enter.

Bruce Wayne was every bit the intimidating figure that Batman was, merely in a different manor, though perhaps the choice of casual clothes toned the intensity down a little.

_'Looks like most outside Gotham don't recognise him without a suit of some kind…I guess I wouldn't either if I'd never met the face under the cowl in person. Dang it, I should've known better than to go to either of the Gem cities…they're only the two most obvious places I'd go. Next time, I'm going to China for Chinese.'_

He peeked through the leaves, watching as Bruce spoke to one of the waitresses. She was…understandably….blushing her face off as he smiled at her.

"Ever the charmer Wayne…" Wally heard himself growl.

He was surprised by his attitude, and felt his own cheeks grow warm.

_'Why…?'_

Why was he acting like this anyway? It was bad enough how immature he acted at the best of times, but all this fuss because his stomach was empty?

His stomach? TSK! No, he knew why really…but…

As he glanced back to Bruce and the now giggling waitress, an idea came to him.

"OH MY GOD!" He kept his head down, but his voice reached around the whole place, "Is that Bruce Wayne at the front of the room!?"

Oh was it ever effective; he heard the commotion well enough as every other customer looked up from their own business to see the young billionaire standing in their midst.

NOW they recognised him.

Wally stifled a giggle as Bruce was quickly swarmed by females…not to mention a fair few males…before pulling his ring out one more, and ducking under his table.

"Please excuse me, I'm looking for someone right now…" Bruce tried to explain to his so called fans.

He caught movement at the back of the room. Flash now stood up, and smirked dryly at the dark knight.

Knowing he couldn't say anything ( in case others had seen Wally's face), he could only watch as the speedster vibrated through the wall behind, right out the restaurant.

He finally managed to break free of his so called fans, and raced back out of the restaurant, but knew of course that it was far too late. He ran around the building to look for clues, but found nothing.

However, a familiar yelp told him his path.

* * *

"Cold cold cold…!" Flash used his speed to quickly chip off the ice covering one of his hands, flinching as he flexed the freed fingers.

He glared back to his opponent, dodging when another blast of ice came his way.

"You know I'm soooo not in the mood for this today Cold! How about we rebook for tomorrow…how's three o'clock sound?"

Ice was shot at him again.

"No good? Then later or earlier, what works for ya?" Flash joked as usual, but his voice lacked all humour.

Captain Cold started aiming his shots at the ground, covering it in enough ice that Flash couldn't avoid it all.

"OOF!...ouch…" He groaned as he sat up from the fall.

Cold stepped forward again, ready to shoot, when a trash can…still full of trash…came down over his head.

Flash barely stood in time as Cold was shoved forward. He dodged, and sent a swift kick into the villains back, sending him crashing into the wall at the back of the alleyway.

"You're awfully popular today…"

He looked back to Bruce as the man walked to the edge of where the ice covered the ground.

"Tell me about it. I've had these giant black and blue flies all day that can't find another head to buzz around!"

Bruce raised a stern eyebrow at him, though it was Wally's own words that caused him to flinch.

"…Sorry, that was too far…" He admitted his mistake, and glanced away.

"Is that how we feel to you…?"

Flash couldn't hide his shock. There was no sarcasm in the question…it was honest.

"W…what?"

"ARE we just flies that won't leave you alone…?"

"N-no…that's just…"

"How about you act your age and be honest with me Flash?"

The age reference again. Kal had been right…Wally did NOT like hearing anyone use it against him, whether it was truth or not.

He knew he was the one in the wrong, he did…but…

"You really don't know how to hold back do you?" He growled.

"I know how and WHEN to hold back, and since today you haven't tried to listen to a calm conversation, I'll put it straight and blunt."

"What makes you think I'll listen?"

"You're really going to try and run?" Bruce looked to Wally's shaking legs, "Not a whole lot of friction on ice, is there?"

On cue, the speedster lost his balance and fell on his butt again.

"Now, why don't we have an adult conversation?" Bruce said calmer but still stern.

"How about we don't."

Flash placed his hands on the ice either side of his body. He rocked forward a bit, before pushing off hard and sending his body sliding back until he tumbled off the edge of the ice.

"Flash!" Bruce yelled from the other side of the frozen ground.

Flash stood and looked to the other man, and though his chest was burning, the anger suddenly drained from his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, his eyes darting away, and when he _did_ look back, Bruce saw the raw fear he'd sensed was driving the speedster away.

And it did so again; Wally charged away down another alley, and Bruce knew he had no chance of finding out which way the speedster would come out.

None the less, he turned back around and ran down the streets. If he could at least see a scarlet blur or something…

"Bruce!"

He halted and looked over his shoulder.

"Please tell me that wasn't Flash I saw heading BACK to Central?" The Kryptonian couldn't help but grumble as he landed.

"Probably."

"So what happened? You said you were ready for him if he came to Keystone?"

"He managed to pull a fast on in the restaurant I found him in."

"You mean he gave you the slip," Kal crossed his arms, "And you've been tell _me_ off all day for not catching him."

"That's because you tried talking when you couldn't make him listen!"

"Talking almost DID work back on the watch tower! If J'onn hadn't called at that point, I might've actually gotten something out of him!"

"I thought the same back in the alleyway over there, but I assumed too quickly that he'd have no choice but to listen!"

"You can't be so brutally firm on everyone all the time!"

"Neither can you be so patient and calm that they think they can throw on a cheesy grin and lie their way through everything!"

Kal drew in a huge breath, before backing up a bit and raising his hands.

"…why're we fighting Bruce?" He mumbled apologetically.

Bruce looked to the ground, and for once didn't try and hide the concern he felt.

"Whatever he's not telling us, he knows he should, but he's afraid, I saw it…"

"I know, I saw the same thing back on the watch tower. Fear, guilt…like he's ashamed of something. Do you…think he doesn't…?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, we need to speak to him…even if he doesn't want to."

Kal unfolded his arms, and gave an awkward smile.

"Alright, but this time I hold him…" Kals eyes drifted down to Bruce's chest.

"I think that was the original plan," Bruce smirked playfully, turning away, "I better go change."

"Hold up, you might want to take a look at this…"

Bruce turned to see Kal holding out a small, oval disk.

"I found it on Grodd when I dropped him into prison…"

"Did you literally drop him?" Bruce couldn't help himself.

"….I might've let him free fall a few metres…" Clark smirked.

"So what is this thing?"

"I'm not certain, but _this_ gives me a fair idea…" Clark help up a different item, "…and if I'm right, we need to get in contact with the watch tower before ANYTHING else…"

* * *

Wally had always loved spending time on the hills around Central City, even before becoming the Flash; It was tranquil, and there always seemed to be a gentle breeze present that was so very calming…

_*grrrroooooooowwwwwllll!*_

…Not filling, or in any way satisfying…but still calming.

Shiera had once asked if he had a place he liked to retreat. He'd spouted some half fib about the nearest racing track, or fast food outlet…

Race tracks were great if he needed to blow off some steam or think, and fast food was always a great pick-me-up if he was in a mood…

…But when he really needed quiet…to just be able to breathe…nothing could replace the shade of one of the few trees around these fields.

His temper hadn't fully dissolved quite yet, but it was more like warm coals now.

"You've really been an upstanding founder today Wallace West…" He grumbled, resting his forehead against his fist, "first I cause mayhem around the watch tower, then I use my hunger as an excuse to loosen my tongue? _'Don't wanna hear it?'…'Black and blue flies?'_ How could I even say those things to them? And to top it all off I even physically hurt Bruce!"

His fists clenched painfully tight.

"…Bats and Supes were right, I really am a child. Even when I try to act responsible, I just end up…I-I just…"

"…You just end up being yourself?"

The voice was gentle, but still made Flash jump. Superman drifted to the ground, dropping off Batman…now in full uniform…who looked a bit grumpy from having to hitch a ride.

"H…how'd you find me…?" Not a bright question, but the only thing he could think to say.

"A speck of red in an all green field? Not too hard to spot," Kal joked lightly.

"Neither was your path," Batman added, indicating over his shoulder.

Wally glanced around him; the grass where he'd run earlier was still flattened from the speed of his steps.

"…Oh…"

He shrunk back as they approached, but Kal held his hand up.

"Flash…" His voice was firmer now, "…no more running."

"It's time to stop letting your tantrums get the better of you," Batman spoke up.

"I've been stalked, starved and scolded in the same day. Sorry if all I want to do is sulk," Flash grumbled, regretting his words as soon as he said them, and looked away.

He was just about ready to bite his own tongue off, but was left blushing instead when his stomach gave a particularly loud growl…

…oh hell, EVERY growl was loud now!

He heard one of them approach, but refused to look around, until something nudged his head.

He glanced towards the rustling, and found two bulging paper bags pushed into his chest.

"What's…this…?"

"Your order from the restaurant," Batman answered, "I told them something came up and you had to change your order to go."

"But…I didn't pay…"

"Consider that one on us…" Kal said.

"What did I tell you about being so generous?" Batman turned to him, "He can pay us back later."

"Now whose fault is it that he missed breakfast in the first place?"

"He slept in late _in the first place_ , so his own."

"Well it was supposed to be a day off."

"He can use his time better than by sleeping more than he needs to."

"Yes, but unfortunately _most_ mortals NEED more than two hours sleep a night."

The two were such opposites, the way they bantered all the time…

Wally couldn't help it as a snicker slipped free, so he turned away with his hand over his mouth in a failed attempt to hide his grin.

"Was that a laugh?" Kal teased, "That's more like the Flash we know and love."

Wally felt a hard thump in his chest. He hugged the paper bags, not thinking about if he was squashing the food or not.

"I…I-I uuhh…" he turned back to them, struggling to find his voice.

But again, Kal gestured for his silence.

"Eat first," Superman sat on the grass, "Then we'll talk."

"And we WILL talk," Bat joined them on the ground.

He threw a large bottle of water to the speedster, who just looked confused.

"You don't need any more soft drink in your system. Have something that'll actually hydrate you."

"Aaaww…" Flash couldn't help whine.

Superman laughed, and Wally considered poking his tongue out.

Still, as he opened up the first bag, he couldn't help a small smile.

"Thanks…" He mumbled honestly.

He drank a large mouthful of water, forcing himself not to just down the whole bottle in one go. He pulled out the first burger and unwrapped it. It was a little cool now, but still smelt wonderful as he raised it to his mouth.

"ACK!" He yelped and looked around in shock as the burger was knocked out of his hands.

He found it a few metres away on the ground, with what looked like a…

"Oh crud, don't tell me…"

…a boomerang sticking out of it!?

Kals head shot up as he heard a sound.

"Move!" He grabbed the other heroes and took to the air.

The boomerang blew up just as they got out of reach.

"No!" Flash yelled.

"Flash, we'll get more…" Batman began, knowing the speedster had dropped the food.

"It's not that!" Flash growled, those warm coals flaring back up once more.

He pulled his hand free, falling back to the ground.

The grass and tree had all caught alight; He raced around the entire area the fire had gone, creating a vortex. It grew until the oxygen was all sucked free, killing the flames.

"Flash!"

A quick laser shot from Superman caught a boomerang before it hit the speedster. Unfortunately that one also blew up, knocking Flash away.

"Damn it! Put me down!" Batman yelled.

Superman obliged; they landed, and both were upon the culprit.

"Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and now you all in one day…" Superman held Captain Boomerang off the ground, "…it's not 'Central city villain fun day' is it?"

"Naa mate, just a little sport," Boomerang smirked.

He pulled out another of his weapons, but Batman held up his own batarang.

"Are we going to see who's the quicker draw, Boomerang?"

"Tsk, like you could beat ME in that kind of challenge."

"Prove me wrong."

Both held their weapons high. It was Boomerang that threw first; Batman dodged, and just before he threw his own weapon, Superman startled the villain by throwing him high into the air.

"Guess you win, Boomerang," Batman smirked, before throwing his batarang.

It struck the villain in the head, knocking him out. Superman caught him before he hit the ground.

"Where's Flash?" Supes looked to Batman as he dropped the villain.

"Ugh…present…"

They looked to the speedster as he walked to them, holding his head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no problem Supes."

"This can't be coincidence Flash," Batman pointed to Boomerang, "What did you do to get them all after you at the same time?"

"Hey I can't even figure out what I did to get you two after me," Flash shrugged.

He suddenly flinched, grabbed them both and pulled them out of the line of fire…

….literally! A jet of flames barely skimmed Supermans cape.

"Sheesh! If it wasn't for Grodd, I'd say the Rogues were having a party."

"Grodd may be the one behind today Flash."

"What do you mean Bats?"

"Later you two! Heatwave?"

They turned back to the fire loving rogue.

"Now what was wrong with the flames before Flash?" Heatwave smirked, "I thought you preferred the colour red…"

He sent another blast of fire at them, following Flash when they separated. The speedster raced around in a circular path…something Heatwave didn't notice until too late.

"Sit tight there for a minute, ok?" Flash raced off, leaving the rogue in the ring of fire.

Wally proceeded to extinguish the flames as he'd done so before, whilst Superman plucked Heatwave from the self-inflicted trap, breaking his flamethrower whilst he was at it.

"Heads up Batman," Kal called casually, and threw the rogue to him.

The dark knight didn't even bother catching him. Instead, he just punched Heatwave full in the face once close enough.

"Is that all of them?"

"I think so," Kal flew down next to him.

Batman searched through Heatwaves pockets, and pulled out another silver disk.

"Looks like your hunch was right," Kal retrieved one from Boomerang as well.

"We'll have to wait for confirmation from the watch tower to be sure."

"What're those?" Flash poked his head over their shoulders….not the easiest task even on tiptoes.

_'No fair…they're not that much taller than me!'_

"What we think is the cause of all the fuss today Flash," Batman turned to him.

"The fuss?"

"The tele porter not working…Batmans communicator off-lining for a moment…" Kal explained.

"Your communicator went offline?"

"It was such a short time that it could've been considered a minor glitch, but I'll bet that was the idea…"

"Bats, back up for a moment…what do those things actually do?"

"We're pretty sure they…"

Yet again they were interrupted, this time by an explosion that drew their attention back to Central city. Flash hunched over with a loud groan.

"Do we have to…?"

"We'll head for a late lunch straight after…" Supes touched his shoulder, his gaze turning firm as he looked to Batman, "…this one's on me."

"You want to pay for his appetite? Be my guest…" Batman answered coolly, then smirked, "…think you can afford it, reporter?"

"Well if I can afford gifts to suit _your_ taste…" Kal smirked back, "… _I'm_ not afraid to have fast food show up on my credit card bill."

Flash giggled quietly again, but at the same time his chest began churning like it had when this _game_ of theirs had stopped being just for fun.

"Flash? You alright?"

"Yeah, the hunger's just making me a bit tired, I'm all good."

Before Flash could move, Batman grabbed his arm.

"Wally, remember what I said before…"

_'We WILL talk…'_

Yeah, Wally remembered alright, and it did his chest no good…

"Land or air Bats…?" He mumbled, looking away.

It took the Dark Knight a second to catch his meaning; when he did, he wasn't pleased with his choices. He decided upon air and stepped back to Superman.

Without a second glance, Flash took off to Central. Carrying Batman to get there forced Superman to slow down a bit, but he wasn't far behind. He only just got into the city when he spotted Flash leaning against a poll.

"Flash!?"

"I'm fine…" Wally waved back to them, his voice a little exhausted, "…go on, I'll catch up!"

Oh how the man of steel wanted to point out the irony of Flash being the one to say that!

Too easy...he kept quiet and took off with Batman towards the commotion.

"What the…!?" Supes dodged quickly as a piece of building flew past.

"I thought you said you took him to S.T.A.R labs!?" Batman yelled as Grodd glared at them from the middle of the destruction.

"I did! They assured me they had it under contro…" Supes eyes widened, "…unless…"

"Unless Grodd _already_ had it under control," Bats finished, "He had a contingency plan in case he didn't get through us the first time."

"But I already took the…"

"He'd have had a spare…he probably even hid it at S.T.A.R labs because he knew that's where we'd take him."

They dodged another concrete slab.

"How did he get back here so quickly?"

"We'll work that one out later!"

"All this fuss with the rogues…what's the bet they were a distraction?"

"Without a doubt. I also bet I don't make a very charming wind chime…"

Kal had to look down at Batman before he understood.

"Oh!"

He flew to the ground and dropped him off.

"Wait here, that building looks pretty unstable, I'll bring the fight to us," Kal took to the air, but looked back, "Bruce?"

"What?"

"You can be pretty charming when you want to be," Kal smirked and flew back up to the building.

"…Cheesy," Bats grumbled, but was glad the Kryptonian didn't see the small smirk he allowed.

Following a series of crashes and yells, Grodd came flying out of the building, and crashed upon a car.

The gorilla sat up, only for something to wrap around him. Batman had fired one of his grappling ropes, which locked tight around Grodd.

Before he could resist, Batman threw the device into the air, in time for Superman to fly by and grab it.

The man of steel knew Grodd wouldn't take long to break the binds…Batman made or not…so he span the grapple around, just as he heard it snap, and followed as the gorilla landed hard upon a rooftop.

Back on the ground, Batman followed on foot, almost stumbling when a strong breeze flew around him.

"What'd I miss?" Flash panted.

"Grodd. Seems he got free somehow."

"Greeeaat. Any idea what he actually wants this time?"

"Not yet, but we'll find out soon enough."

"Of course we will. Supes got this, right?"

"Rig…"

Bats broke off as he looked back to the roof where he'd last seen the superhero go.

"Bats? What is it?" Flash asked cautiously.

"…quiet."

Before the speedster could enquire, Superman reappeared and flew down to them.

"Hey Supes, Where's monkey man?" Flash joked.

Kal looked to him with a small smile, but Flash felt his own disappear.

That smile…it just…it wasn't…

Too confused, even the speedster wasn't quick enough to dodge the punch that sent him sliding across the ground.

"FLASH!"

Batman growled as Superman turned to him. Just poking out from the top of his uniform, he could see one of the silver disks.

"That settles it then," He glared to the roof, "How the heck did you that on him Grodd!?"

"Strength doesn't defend even Superman from the right distraction, Batman…" Grodd smirked, down at him, "…suggest to a kind heart like his that you know why one he cares for is ignoring him, and it's really not that hard."

Batman flinched at those words; a big mistake.

He felt a powerful blow to his chest, and crashed hard upon the concrete.

"Well, perhaps ones heart doesn't need to be THAT kind…" Grodd taunted.

He set Superman on the Dark Knight again before he could get up. An iron grip fastened around his throat, whilst the other went for his utility belt. However, the man of steel didn't try to pull it off.

"I know you've got something particularly handy in that belt of yours Batman, now let's see which pocket you've hidden it in."

"Superman…" Batman choked out, realising what Grodd was looking for, "…do…don't…"

Superman got three of the pockets open before he hit the jackpot. The powerful being shrunk away as a bright green glow illuminated his face. He groaned painfully, and when his grip loosened, Batman was able to kick him off.

Holding his chest, he moved as far away from Superman as he dared, enough that he knew the Kryptonian wouldn't be affected. However, his hand stayed close to the kryptonite in his belt, knowing he had to rely on it until he got Kal free of the mind control.

"Go on Batman, use it…" Grodd taunted, "…You know you have no choice…"

Superman was standing back up, but still under control, his attention was turned back to Batman, and he attacked once again. With no choice, Batman drew out the kryptonite and held it forward. Supermans eyes clenched, and the dark knight had to jump aside as he lost control of his flight, and crashed into the ground, sprawled a few metres away.

Grodd laughed loudly from the rooftop.

"This would be ever so amusing to watch; a relentless fight between the strongest body and the strongest mind of the justice league. I'm honestly not sure which one would out last the other. However, I'm afraid there are other matters that must be attended to. Come boys, there will be time to play later."

The gorilla pulled out the second remote that Batman had assumed him to have, and spoke clearly into the screen;

"Bring in our third player…BOTH of you."

Batman felt a rush of pins and needles through his body, sending him off balance.

_'What the…?'_

He glanced in horror to his utility belt. He realised what had happened, but his mind was fading too fast…the last thing he could take note of was Superman rising, and striking him in the face…

… the last of his focus left him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest...how did I do with Grodd? His was not an easy personality to get right, but I don't think I did too badly...
> 
> As I said before, action scenes aren't my strength, and as always, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.
> 
> Now if memory serves right, I know that Heatwave never played a part in Justice League: Unlimited, but as a main member of the rogues, I wanted to include him here.
> 
> If there's anything that doesn't make sense in the story, please feel free to ask.
> 
> Thanks again, will update asap.


	3. Shatter and Rise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, very sorry for the wait, this one took awhile to do, but then I also forgot to post it here, very sorry for that, my bad ^_^' This is a pretty long chapter, even for one of my stories XP
> 
> As I've mentioned before...action scenes aren't a strong point of mine, and whilst I always try to do as much research as I can about topics if I plan to use them in writing, I'll apologise now if anything in this chapter appears...unlikely (will talk about that more at the end of the chapter).
> 
> Well, one of the scenes in this is chapter is one of my favs of the story, so I really hope that comes out well...
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warning: Ok, can't remember if I mentioned this two chapters ago, and it's probably clear by now, but just since I should've said it by now...this IS a shonenai/yaoi story, but doesn't contain anything explicit. Non the less, the relationship is very much there.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot for this fan fiction.

Flash's shoulder was practically roaring with pain, more even than his throbbing head, though in some sadistic way it was nice to have a distraction from his stomach.

His body was rising, though he felt no effort from himself in doing so. He barely shifted his feet as they found rough ground. Those factors didn't really register his concern right now, but the pressure around his chest and arms was getting unbearable.

"Hmm…?" His eyes opened meekly.

He raised his head enough to see Batman walking towards him.

"Bats…?" The constant pressure turned his attention, "…Supes? What happened…did you beat Grodd?"

"Not exactly," Superman smiled at him.

Again, something was off about that look.

"Well…then why're we standing here? I mean the hug is nice and all Supes, but…" He paused as Batman stopped before them, "…oh! You want to make a plan or something, right?"

"No," Batman answered, "…I said we were going to talk, didn't I?"

Flash's eyes widened, but not for what Batman had said, but rather for his tone...

…why was it…?

_'He doesn't sound angry…actually, I don't know what you'd call that tone…but it's strange.'_

At least it explained the prolonged "hug" from Kal; a super Chinese burn wouldn't be so effective here…

"Honestly NOT trying to get out of that, but is this really a good time? If Grodd's on the loose…"

"Please Flash," The villain in question made his presence known, as he now stood only a short distance away, "… _on the loose,_ is such a demeaning reference. It's suggestive of a lesser mind."

"Oh excuse me, it was sooo meant to be a compliment," Flash growled, and tried to run at the gorilla, "…Superman? Any time now…I promise I won't run from our little talk this time…"

He frowned at the taller man and pulled against his arms to give him a hint, but instead the grip only tightened, making him gasp.

"Su…!"

His shoulder gave a nasty throb, and like a slap over the head, the memory hit him;

Superman had passed them one of those false smiles, before his fist rose and slammed straight into Flash's shoulder. He'd gone sliding away, knocked his head, and remembered nothing between then and waking up.

His imagination couldn't help make him wonder if he's swallowed Captain Colds gun, since his stomach was turning to ice.

"What did you do to them!?" He glared at Grodd.

"I'm sure even you must know by now, Flash."

Batman raised his hand, within which Flash could see one of the silver disks from earlier. Something flat and cool was resting between his head and Supermans chest, and he could just glimpse something silver poking out from between Batmans hip and utility belt.

Though the top of his arms were pinned harshly, his hands shot up the second Batman moved again, and caught his wrist as he went to lower the disk. He tried to push back, but in that position and against the strength of the Dark Knight, he wasn't exactly getting far.

"Ironic, wouldn't you say so, Flash?"

"More like hypocritical! I would've thought you…too…proud…to "recruit" us for…for your little scheme…whatever that is…" Flash struggled to keep the disk away.

"I have my pride like any self-respecting creature Flash, but not so much that I'd turn down a possible asset for the sake of a personal grudge; the strongest body, the most skilled tactician, and now the fastest of your species. Not a bad arsenal to have when your desire is to pave a new era."

Grodd raised the controller again.

"Let's speed this up a bit…hm, no pun intended of course Flash," He mocked.

Superman released Flash's arms, but only to grab his wrists.

"No! Supes don't!" Wally cried as his hands were held aside.

In panic, he lifted his leg and pushed against Batmans chest. The Dark Knight only hesitated for a moment, before raising his free arm, and bringing his elbow down hard.

Flash's scream echoed around the area; he didn't know if that was a fracture or not, but the pain in his thigh was so severe that it zapped the strength from both his legs.

Superman lowered him to the ground, and held his arms again. The speedster could only kneel there holding his leg, as his body still shook from the shock.

"…Bats…" He choked out as the dark knight knelt before him.

He shrunk back against the man behind him, and truly felt like he was leaning against a wall of steel.

"Just try to relax Flash," Kal hushed over his shoulder.

It sounded like it was meant to be gentle, but he knew better. He barely held in a gasp as one of the powerful hands came to rest upon his injured leg; It was a feather light caress right now, but he could feel the threat…Supes would barely have to put any pressure upon it…

"Guys come on, you've gotta snap out of it!"

"Calm down Flash," Batman spoke as his free hand came to rest on the side of the speedsters' neck, "This isn't going to hurt you."

Wally tried to shrink away as the black clad fingers crept to his chin, and started to snake under the opening of his uniform.

_'What do I do? This is my fault…how do I…?'_

He cracked an eye open as Bats hand began moving to the top of his mask…not that he wanted to look, he just couldn't help it. His attention however, was drawn past the dark knight, to something that glimmered a distance away.

_'Is…? It couldn't be…'_

He wasn't sure, and even if it was, he really, really didn't want to…but…

_'I'm sorry…'_

His body was still in a lot of pain, but gritting his teeth, he forced himself to vibrate hard. Batman quickly pulled back, and Superman had loosened his grip just enough that Flash was able to dash away.

He crashed and skidded upon the ground, yelling in pain when he came to a stop.

_'Ok, so I can still run a little, guess I can cross off a broken leg…'_ He thought in relief.

A bright glow stung his eyes, and when he heard Superman take to the air, his hand scrambled around his head to find it…

The Kryptonian was just about upon him when Flash held the Kryptonite over himself like a shield. Kal automatically fell back, his landing rather graceful despite his strength being zapped away.

"I'm sorry Supes…" Wally whispered as he stood, keeping the stone in front of himself.

His eyes darted to the side as Batman raced towards him. He jumped aside, almost collapsing when his leg screamed at him.

"Ok, am I SURE this isn't broken?" He grumbled at his leg, before running aside when the dark knight turned on him again.

Thankfully he hadn't lost his speed, just the strength to keep running for very long. With the kryptonite in hand, Superman wouldn't be able to get near even if Grodd ordered it, and with his speed, he could stay far away enough that Batman couldn't keep up.

But the Dark Knight was known in AND out of Gotham for his relentless pursuit. Normally Wally could keep this up until even Batman wore out, but with his leg and shoulder still throbbing…and of course, his ever screeching stomach…he found his own energy being zapped quickly.

_'I need some time to heal…even just a little while to dim the pain. My body is trying, but if I don't stop moving like this…'_

Something hissed passed his head; he looked to see a cable, before turning back just as Batman…riding the pull of his grapple hook…came flying at him.

The speedster was knocked clean off his feet, and the weight of the dark knight left him winded as he landed on top of him.

"Ba…" He choked as his body struggled to grasp air.

He winced as he became aware of his wrist being pinned roughly. His other arm was already stuck under Batmans leg, leaving him barely able to fight as Batman grasped the kryptonite with his free hand.

Flash held on as well as he could, but yet again, he was facing the wrong person in a battle of strength. Batman soon pulled the green stone out of his grip, and replaced it in his belt. He then took the silver disk again.

Wally struggled beneath him, but when Batman squeezed his leg against his arm, pain roared through his shoulder, making him cry out and fall limp.

_'What now? My metabolism's never gotten THIS much in the way before. Damn it! Supes…Bats…I got them into this mess, I've got to get them out of it…how do I…?'_

He felt his mask pulled free of his face, his eyes instinctively shutting.

_"Wally, I promise, I didn't come here to fight…"_

"How about you act your age and be honest with me Flash?"

_'Bruce…Clark…'_

They'd known; Maybe not right away…or perhaps they'd known the WHOLE time…it didn't really matter, but they'd known he'd found the game of cat & mouse too personal, that their harmless teasing had started to crack the shields that Wally had been certain no one even saw.

_'Things I've said to both of them today…I've been a jerk, and yet they both still followed me here when they could've just got on with the rest of their day…I mean, how often does Bruce actually take a day off? Wait…DOES he ever take days off?'_

Wally opened an eye as Bruce moved the disk towards the neckline of his uniform. He felt his resolve bubbling, like his pride finally decided to admit it had done enough damage, and backed down.

_'I got them in…I…get them out…no matter what.'_

His head swiped around as he grabbed the disk between his teeth, yanking it from the Kevlar clad hand.

Well, if THAT wasn't a small, internal victory against the Dark Knight!

He managed to vibrate his hand just enough that Batmans grip loosened, and when he was able to pull his arm free, he smacked his hand hard against Batmans injured chest. A sharp hiss was his answer, and he felt the weight of his captor pull back slightly…

…just enough.

Wally bit down hard on the disk, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.

The idea had come from a documentary he'd watched one time (well heck, it was a rainy day and there was nothing else on!). The focus on predators had turned to the crocodile, both scary and cool…in Wallys opinion…and had really drawn his attention to its signature move…

…the death role.

Batman was sent flying off as the speedster span around and around where he laid, the speed making him dig into the ground slightly. The second he felt the weight leave him, Wally stopped, praised the speed force that he could stand, and bit down even harder as he raced away.

He finally managed to make it a decent distance, hiding out in an abandoned building a few blocks away. Once Supes recovered it wouldn't take long, but he'd have at least a couple of minutes…

"GAA….aahhhh!" The disk slipped from his mouth as he collapsed against a wall.

His shoulder had been painful before, but he knew for certain it was now dislocated. That roll had been effective, but he'd known it would likely come at a price…that ground he'd been laying on was too uneven, and he'd never tried the move before.

His leg…his shoulder…heck, his whole body! Even his face felt like it had just taken a lashing, and not just because he'd run with it uncovered (he'd done that before…bad idea, but this was different).

For certain though, he wasn't going any further.

"I can't do this on my own…" He panted, "…Gotta…call…others…"

Gritting his teeth as he shifted, he touched his ear.

"Watch tower! Come in watch tower, I nee…what the…?"

Horror sprouted in his chest; where was his communicator!? He checked both ears just to be sure, and even inside the top of his uniform, but it wasn't anywhere.

_'Batman…'_

When Bruce had slipped his fingers under his mask the first time, he'd felt him touch near his ear, but hadn't thought any more of it.

"Crud…" He grumbled and closed his eyes, "…stomach, if I become a monkey's….monkey….then I'm so blaming you!"

He felt the cool metal disk beneath his fingers, and let slip a small growl as he gripped it tightly.

"Stupid Grodd…" He raised it to his eye level, "…take control of my guys and turn them on me will you…!?"

His choice of words clicked in his head, sending a burning blush from his cheeks all the way down his neck. With a frustrated growl, he rubbed his thumb at super  
speed over the disk, meaning to shatter it.

"Ouch!" The device gave a powerful spark, leaving him cradling his thumb in his mouth, glaring in annoyed surprise at the fallen disk, "Great, so these things even have built in defence? Grodd really put some effort into th…"

Something snared his attention then, something he hadn't noted before.

He cautiously picked it back up, and…slowly…traced his thumb over a small abrasion.

"It looks like…but why is…?"

His face as he was running before…his thumb just now…

_'Build in defence…'_  
  
Somewhere nearby, he heard something burst through the air.

_'Steady heart…'_ He leant back, breathing in deeply, trying to slow the racing organ.

He'd learnt ages ago that he could speed it up, but for the fastest man alive, slowing it down was by far harder.

_'Just calm down…it's going to be ok…'  
_

* * *

"You said you heard him in this direction?" Batman glanced around the street.

"Yes, he's nearby, but he's fallen surprisingly quite," Superman answered, his eyes closed as he listened.

"Can't you _see_ where he's hiding?"

"You're trying to take the fun out of it again Batman," Supes smirked around at him.

"This isn't supposed to be fun, we're meant to…"

Bats cut off when Kal held up his hand, his head quickly turning to the side.

"…There."

He led the way to a rundown building about twenty metres away, peering through the door way…

_'Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud…!'_

Only one person could get away with such a rapid heartbeat.

Consenting to Batmans words, he gave the building a quick scan…

…and there he was.

He gave an indicating nod, and walked further into the building. They found their target in a back room on the same level, curled up against the wall, gripping his arm.

Flashed glanced around at them, and shrunk back into the wall, but otherwise didn't move.

"Are you going to keep fighting us Flash?" Superman approached him first.

Wally looked between the two of them, panic in his eyes.

"You usually trust us so well Flash, why do you stop now?" Batman wasn't far behind.

"Seriously?" Flash whispered, anger shaking his voice, "I'm supposed to trust you right NOW!?"

He gripped his arm harder, his free hand resting on his leg.

"My shoulder's dislocated…my leg is killing me…my head is pounding and my stomach…GAH! Shut up stomach…!"

"You're leg won't stay that way long Flash. The strike was only to slow you down, not stop you."

"YOU THINK THAT'S THE POINT!?" Flash glared at Bats, "…you knowingly hurt me. I know you're under Grodd's control, but even I can see it's not like when he once controlled me. You're not so blindly following his orders…you're aware of what's going on…I know because you DIDN'T break my leg!"

"You're right Flash. We know what we're doing," Kal made him jump as he knelt next to him, "And we know we've hurt you…"

He reached around to touch the injured shoulder, making Wally flinch.

"….You only bruised it…I'm the one who dislocated it…" The speedster admitted, hanging his head as his temper stopped flaring so much.

"Because you won't stop fighting us," Kal sat down, wrapping his arm around his back, "You want to be with us, but you won't stop running…"

"Because I'm afraid…" Wally blurted out before he could stop himself, and covered his mouth too late.

His gaze shifted to Batman standing over him, and in a weak dash, he jumped up and grabbed at the utility belt. He succeeded, but his shoulder left him gasping in pain.

"ENOUGH FLASH!" Batman yelled, grabbing the speedsters hand, "This has gone on long enough, stop looking for ways out and face the situation!"

Wally flinched back at the harsh tone, not fighting as his hand was pulled away.

Superman pulled him back to the ground whilst the dark knight checked his belt; the Kryptonite was still in one pocket, and the control disk where it had been. He then glanced to the one Flash was still holding, but it was quickly hidden in the red clad chest.

"Flash, please…" Supes voice turned gentle as he pulled the speedster against his chest, even being careful of his shoulder this time, "…I'm sorry for what we've put you through today, but we just want you here with us…"

"Liar…" Flash whispered, but his voice was sad, "…how CAN you want me? I'm sitting here accusing Bats of hurting me, but I hurt him first…"

"He also pulled the kryptonite out on me, and I've hurt both of you today as well."

"But I wasn't the one under Grodds influence! Maybe you _do_ know what's going on, but you're not in control. You can decide _how_ to hurt me, but not whether you will or won't. Hurting you guys just because I was upset was all on me. I should never have let myself get out of hand…with what I said OR did."

"Flash, listen. Yes things have been out of control today, and yes we've all hurt each other. But whatever our actions may say, Grodd doesn't control our feelings, not about anything…certainly not about you."

"I know, but…"

"But the fact that you're not following his orders doesn't change anything; we don't blame you for today…we're not angry."

"…Really?" Flash whispered, looking up with wide eyes.

"Really," Supes smiled down at him, "I know this doesn't seem ideal, I know you feel you need to help us, but in truth, you just need to let go. Stop resisting the truth, and just be with us."

"Flash…" Batman knelt before him again, waiting until the green eyes turned back to him, "…it's going to be alright…trust me, everything will work out…"

Flash just stared up at him silently. His heart was hammering at a pace even he found uncomfortable. He curled up into Supes, hiding his face as he forced his breathing to slow down. He couldn't help but relax as a large hand brushed through his hair soothingly.

When he felt the stronger body shifting, He looked back up at Kal, who passed him a reassuring smile.

Wally managed a weak version of his own as a sneaky tear managed to escape his eye, only for Kal to catch it.

He didn't think he'd ever drawn a breath as deep as the one he did then.

"Ok…" His smile faded, his voice still shaking.

_'I guess this is it…'_  
  
He shifted around to face Batman once more, his face scared, but submissive.

"No more running…" He whispered in defeat.

Batman petted his head comfortingly, before taking the hand with the disk. Wally hesitated for a moment, but finally loosened his grip, allowing the other to take the device.

The speedster obediently tilted his head to the side as Kal encouraged him, allowing Batman to stretch his uniform and slide the disk down to rest against his skin.

* * *

Grodd took his time as he wandered the path the heroes had taken. The streets were empty as most people had wisely made a run for it the second the commotion had begun. He felt calm, but that wouldn't last.

As though detecting his growing impatience, he felt eyes on him, and found Batman and Superman standing not far away.

"Well?" He turned to them, hands held arrogantly behind his back.

"Target acquired sir," Batman stepped aside, as Flash limped forward.

His arm was in a sling made of red material; part of Supermans cape. He was standing straight again, but his leg was still shaking slightly.

Grodd could see the outline of the control disk under his uniform. Keeping a straight face, he moved towards the speedster, keeping their gazes locked as he towered before him.

Not hiding just a little of his hatred, the gorilla swung hard, catching Flash across the face, sending him tumbling across the ground.

The other two heroes turned to watch, but didn't even give a change of expression in response.

"Ouch…" Flash groaned quietly as he stood.

He moved slowly back to stand before the villain.

But Grodd raised an eyebrow, still sceptical.

"Superman, go ahead and punch Batman."

"Sorry Batman," Kal responded with a shrug, turning to the dark knight.

Batman didn't complain, instead just turned so that Kal could easily strike him hard, sending him crashing to the ground.

As they had done before, Flash watched his friend stand back up, but made no attempt to help.

"Now Flash," Grodd commanded his attention once more, " _You_ will punch superman."

"Is…it supposed to hurt _him_ , sir?" Flash looked between Supes and Grodd.

"Let's pretend it will," Grodd smirked, "Go ahead now, like you mean it."

Wally shrugged and turned to Superman, raising his fist.

"Uh uh," Grodd made him pause, "…not that hand Flash."

Flash blinked, before looking to his bound arm.

"Oh."

Without a moment hesitation, he untangled himself from the sling. His movement was considerably slower as he stretched his arm, but once he knew he could move it (at least enough), he didn't pause as he swung hard at Supermans face.

The Kryptonians head moved…what? A centimetre or two? And whatever pain he was SUPPOSED to feel…cause heck, he clearly didn't…travelled like lightening through Wally's hand, and all the way up to his bad shoulder.

"AAAAHH!"

The speedster collapsed to the ground, holding his arm as his body practically rattled.

Yep…definitely dislocated…again.

Finally, the villain seemed satisfied.

"Stand up. I trust your injuries will heal as fast as usual, Flash?"

"Yeah, a couple of hours max," Flash shrugged his good shoulder.

"It may take longer than usual right now," Batman corrected him, "You haven't eaten today, you don't have your usual strength."

"Ah yes, the speedsters over active metabolism," Grodd turned his back on them, "A rather convenient factor, but I suppose I don't need him collapsing anymore. Very well Flash, you may go and satisfy your hunger…just enough to heal faster, I need you in better condition than this for what's coming."

"What will I do after that sir?"

"Re-join us of course. Now go."

Kal steadied Flash as Batman came forward to push his shoulder back into place. The speedster gave a muffled cry as he bit down on his own fist, but didn't fight against it.

"That place you like so much is just around the corner," Batman strapped his arm back up in the sling, "I recall you rather…enjoyed yourself last time."

"Hey, if it tastes good, I'll enjoy it regardless," Wally gave a playful smirk despite his pain and exhaustion, "Be back in a…"

"Don't say it!" Supes and Bats both cut him off.

Flash just grinned and took off, not even slightly as fast as usual, but he was still out of sight within seconds.

"What of us sir?" Superman asked.

"Hmm, yes, what of you?" Grodd smirked, "I've had numerous thoughts for you two, such as how much Luthor would pay to have the man of steel delivered right into his hands…" Grodd scoffed, "Not that THAT exchange would ever take place. Money is the least that can be gained here…it's simply an amusing thought."

"Then what would be the more optimal choice?" Batman queried.

"Ever the one to question, detective. The most optimal choice? Now that would be to see a battle to the death between the earth's "greatest heroes", and perhaps one day that may even be an option, but for now…priorities."

Grodd turned at a sound. It had come from a building close by.

"Superman…" His cruel smirk returned, "…one final test. Batman may excel in deception, but you're not nearly so wily. Find our little spy and get rid of them, and yes, I mean completely."

"Understood."

Superman lifted from the ground and flew straight through the building in question…because heck, using the doorway was just way too placid. A moment later, there was a cry of pain, before someone went flying out of the building, crashed into a wall, and fell to the hard concrete.

Kal followed him out, landing before the fallen man. He shifted him onto his back with his foot, but there was no response.

Grodd came closer to inspect for himself. The poor man wasn't even breathing, whilst blood covered two thirds of his face.

"Good…" Grodds voice turned menacing, "…you may very well have to get used to doing that."

"Is there to be much slaughter sir?"

"No more than necessary, but I'm sure a number of your little friends on that watch tower won't be so compliant."

"Any of them would be ready to fight to the death," Batman spoke.

"Oh, and I look forward to giving them that chance, but it would be a shame to waste ALL of that strength and ability. That'll be a task for you Batman, if anyone on the Justice League would know, it would be you."

"Know what exactly?"

"Who outside of your original seven would be the most valuable…whom should be spared to serve a greater purpose," Grodd came to stand right in front of the Dark Knight, "…any thoughts, caped crusader?"

"All have their own abilities and skills…" Batman replied, "…Aqua Man would be hard to acquire, but it would help deliver Atlantis itself into your hands. Black Canary and Vixen aren't the most physically strong, but they're skilled in hand to hand, and their unique abilities are of more than a little help in situations. I think Red Tornado would be out of reach, but…perhaps Supergirl? She's less experienced, but almost as strong as Superman himself."

Grodd glanced to Superman; he was watching them, but his expression was neutral.

"I'm aware of the girl, and don't worry Kryptonian, she's already been selected. You needn't worry for her safety."

"Thank you," Superman placed his hand to his chest and bowed slightly.

"Tsk, really Superman, I'm looking for quality over quantity here. I don't plan to keep many of you outside of the founders…perhaps you could show a little more gratitude than that."

"You're right."

Superman walked forward and knelt at Grodds feet, his head bowed.

"I should show more gratitude…"  
Grodd gasped as a carefully aimed heat ray struck the controller in his hand, blowing it up, and singeing the fur on his fingers.

"WHAT!? HOW…?"

He turned back to Superman, only to find a fist under his chin. He was sent high into the air, but quickly sent back down as the Kryptonian came after him, and kicked him hard.

"I have some amazing people in my life, and sometimes I don't feel like I show enough appreciation for that," Kal stated as he landed.

Grodd sat up, his face livid.

"Fool! I show you a little mercy and this is…!"

His face turning just as furious, Kal grabbed the ape and pulled him clean off the ground.

"Mercy? You chose Super girl because of her strength, just like Batman said. We figured you'd already infiltrated the watch tower somewhere, it was only a matter of figuring out who you'd gotten to…HOW did you get to her!?"

"Answer me first Kryptonian, how are you resisting my control? And do you really think that you're completely free of it JUST because the controller is broken?"

"Oh I'm sure if I was still wearing the disk you gave me, I'd be feeling the effects of your will over mine," Kal suddenly smirked.

"You ARE still wearing it!" Grodd growled.

He was tossed to the ground.

"I said the disk YOU gave me," Kal slowly pulled the device out from his uniform.

"It's not like you to leave such clues Grodd," Batman stepped forward, holding his own disk, "But I think I can understand why…"

He held the disk up so it could be seen clearly; near the top was a small engraving of a lightning bolt.

"You discovered a much more subtle way of controlling people. Subtle, but tricky; these disks are more fragile and even more detailed than the old helmet you used to use. Though incredibly effective, each one had to be programmed individually to withstand the abilities of the one they were meant for, otherwise the effect would be cancelled out, correct?"

Grodd stood slowly.

"So the world's greatest detective figured it out."

"Hmph. I wasn't the first one," Batman smirked in amusement.

Superman held up his own disk, brushing his thumb over a now clear bat symbol.

"No one around with a faster sleight of hand…" He crushed the disk without a second thought, before glancing over his shoulder with a fond smile, "…speaking of which…"

"You might've wanted to specify more about how Flash should satisfy his hunger," Batman copied Kal, letting the remains of his disk rain down to his feet.

"The speedster? He's too weak to handle anything right now, just as intended," Grodd growled.

Kal surprised the ape by giving a smirk one would expect more from batman.

"Shouldn't have said that. Tell me Grodd, what do you get when you mix a scarlet speedster with a tone of sugary food?"

The ape slipped in letting his confusion show.

"An answer you'll regret knowing," Batman answered for him.

The dark knight grappled away to a nearby building, whilst Supes took to the air. Grodd didn't have time to question them though, as he was suddenly surrounded by a whirlwind of red. He was lifted partly off the ground, but then found himself dropped back down when a stream of ice appeared to stop the speedster in his tracks.

It wasn't just captain cold that had found his way there; Boomerang and Heatwave had also regained consciousness and made their way to the fight.

Flash put a short distance between his enemies and himself, glaring as he licked clean a stick of cotton candy.

"How are you running so fast so soon?" Grodd glanced to Flash's leg, "Even your healing isn't that fast."

"For someone who apparently knows a lot about my metabolism…" Flash tossed the stick and stepped forward, "…I'm surprised the answer isn't right in your face."

Captain Boomerang threw one of his weapons at the speedster. In a temper clearly nothing short of 'pissed off', flash caught the weapon, snapped it, and threw the two halves straight back at the owner.

"Let me explain something Grodd…" Flash continued forward as Boomerang fell over unconscious, large bumps on his head, "A speedster will burn up anything they eat far quicker than most, regardless of the nutritional value or energy it provides. None the less, there's still differences in effects depending on what I eat…"

Heatwave aimed his weapon…where he'd gotten a new one was a question, but not one Flash cared for. He zipped straight over, snatched the weapon and threw it far away.

"I've already got a bone to pick with you for the park…" Flash literally growled as he grabbed the pyro by his uniform, "…I wouldn't make it any worse if I were you…"

Even Captain Cold seemed put off as Heatwave was thrown aside; the usually carefree hero almost looked fearsome…had his arm not still been in a sling.

"As I was saying…if I needed my strength to last for a long mission, I'd go clear out someone's veggie garden, order the biggest steak I could find and probably have a whole basket of bread as a side. If however I just wanted a quick, super strong rush of energy…"

Flash vibrated his previously injured leg to prove his point.

"…then the right food in the right amount, and even bruised bones heal up in no time."

Grodd pointed at the speedster. This time Cold fired his gun at him, but Flash just zipped well and truly out of the way, before coming straight back at the rogue and grabbing his wrist.

"Man you guys are even ruder than usual today…" He pointed the weapon down at Colds feet, and forced him to pull the trigger, "just stand there for a minute will ya? I'll get to you next…" He took the weapon away as the rogue found himself stuck where he was.

Grodd took the chance to punch Flash hard. He was knocked back a few feet, but managed to stay standing.

"Hey, tell them to stop interrupting and I'll get to the point already," It would've sounded like a joke, had Flash not been frowning, "Didn't Bats tell you what that shop I like so much is called?"

NOW the comedian of the Justice League grinned widely.

"Central City Candy Emporium!"

Flash raced away again, coming back less than twenty seconds later with a large soft drink in one hand, about three lolly pops in the other, a burger in his mouth and (more) left over cotton candy around his face.

"An' they g't a ga't…" He gulped down the rest of the burger, "… pardon, AND they've got a great burger place right next door!"

"Such food cannot possibly sustain you!"

"Yeah no kidding!" Flash took a huge mouthful of soda, "It burns up way fast even for me. But like I said, this stuff's just for a quick boost. Think of it as kinda like small adrenaline shots Grodd…it's not meant to last, just kick my body into gear; you did tell me to eat until I heal faster…right?"

He threw aside the now empty cup and licked two of the lolly pops. He ran at Grodd and slammed them over his eyes. The sticky sweets stuck there, blinding the ape as he felt the speedster zipping around him.

It may've only taken seconds to remove the makeshift blind fold, but Grodd knew he could've been struck many a time by then, and there had been nothing. All he found was Flash standing before him with the last lolly pop in his mouth, the total image of false innocence.

Captain Cold however, was hanging limp where he'd been knocked out with his legs still frozen.

"Did I miss anyone…?" Flash mumbled around the sweet as he held up the rogues control disks like a hand of cards, "…a little paranoid don't you think? Giving them each more than one. Figured out we'd probably find the first ones, hey?"

"Little point to that victory Flash, their disks don't require any special attention like your own. More can be acquired without effort."

"BIG poin' ac'ually G'dd…" Flash frowned as the lolly made it hard to talk, and spat it out, "…Big point actually; the rogues don't like ANYONE telling them what to do, and since anyone under the effect of these things knows what's going on, you'll have to watch your back from more than one angle when this is all done."

"When this is all done?" Grodd frowned, "When this is done, you'll wish you'd just remained the fool you always are, instead of having some random stroke of luck!"

Grodd sent out a series of telepathic waves, causing Flash to lose his smile and fall to his knees. He clutched his head, crying out in pain.

"Did you honestly think a sugar rush would give you the strength to beat me?" Grodd stormed towards him, "My powers have brought out your darkest thoughts in the past Flash. They did then, they did earlier, and they'll do so now."

Flash managed an angry frown at the ape, before a heat ray struck at Grodds feet, singeing his fur and breaking his focus.

"Did you forget about us Grodd?" Superman called, his face less than amused.

"Thanks for telling us what we needed to know," Batman added.

Superman fired his head ray again, forcing Grodd to back away from Flash, Whilst Batman made his way down to the speedster.

"Thanks," Flash groaned as he stood, "…I know Grodd's not the type to give up easy, but even he usually knows when to cut his losses and run…"

"Usually, yes…" Batman agreed, "…Superman, scan him!"

The Kryptonian flew back from Grodd, and used his x-ray vision.

"Well I'll be…" He mumbled, "…the back of his neck!"

"GO!"

All three rushed the ape. Flash snatched up the lolly as he sped around onto Grodds back, and…forgetting that he'd dropped it on the ground…stuck it in his mouth.

"BLEH!"

Sticking his tongue out and shaking his head in disgust, he slammed the large sweet over the back of Grodds neck, holding on as his enemy tried to grab him.

"Suuupes!" He yelled in panic as he was ripped away…

…Though not without pulling the sticky lolly and a fair patch of fur clean off.

Grodd roared in pain, and threw the hero away through the air. Supes was quick to respond and caught him. On the ground, Batman took over, using Grodds distraction to climb on his back, and reached the spot where a large disk was secured to his neck by metal clamps. It took more than a little pulling, but he finally wrenched it free of the ape's skin.

Grodd roared in pain, trying to grab the Dark Knight, who managed to flip out of harm's way. The ape stumbled forward, holding his neck.

Slowly he regained his balance, before lowering his arms and turning to stare at his enemies.

"Awwwwkwaaaaard…" Flash couldn't help himself.

"Superman, look at the clamps!" Batman threw the device to him.

As the Kryptonian checked it over, his frown said it all.

"Gentlemen…and Grodd, excuse me whilst I go run an errand."

"If that errand by chance takes place in Metropolis, then let me go instead Supes," Flash quirked his head.

"Even with your speed, you're not in the best condition to go that far right now."

"Don't worry, I'll grab drive through on the way…Uuhh…run through? Whatever…"

"I'm talking about your arm Flash."

"I've run between cities with my arm secured before, back when I fractured my wrist a few years ago. As long as I keep it in the sling, it'll be fine. Point being, I'm less worried about me going than you. I think you've had your share of the glowy green today."

Flash took off without another word.

"He's right Superman. I may've taken the kryptonite Luthor was carrying around in the past, but we can't put it past him to have more we don't know about, especially if he's behind this."

"I know," Superman floated down to stand by his friend, "It just doesn't feel right letting him go in my place…at least in this situation…"

"I understand," Batman spoke quieter, but his words were honest.

"And so then there were two," Grodd grumbled, void of amusement.

"I'm not sure whether to be impressed that someone actually managed to get that device on you, or disappointed that one of our more intelligent enemies allowed himself to get caught off guard like that."

"Mock me if it satisfies you, but it changes little."

"You can't beat us both Grodd, and you know it."

"That Batman, would be over presumptuous coming from you."

Grodd sent out another course of telepathic waves. The heroes separated and dodged. Superman was about to fly down at him, but the waves were turned in his direction, and a sharp shock through his chest stopped him mid-way.

It barely fazed him, but he was caused to drop the device, which came to life as it made contact with the waves, and flew automatically down to Grodd.

The ape smirked victoriously as he held up his wrist, which the device clamped onto.

"You thought that was all there was to it, didn't you heroes? I wouldn't have predicted Flash to be the one to discover the weakness of my control disks, but I hardly put it past the possibility of one of you two figuring it out."

"That…that thing is the REAL controller…the other two were just to throw us off!" Batman realised.

"Correct dark knight. The others did indeed work, but this is the real engine of it all, and before you even try, I wouldn't bother using your heat ray Superman, it WON'T work."

Grodd turned to the fallen rogues. His telepathic waves washed over them, throwing their bodies into fits as the same shocks forced them back to consciousness.

"You're aware of what my powers can do. The Flash thinks I didn't consider the Rogues reaction to my disks, when in truth, I merely kept in mind that there are others they hate far more than me."

The rogues had been looking to Grodd as realisation dawned on them, but with another series of telepathic waves, their attention turned back to the heroes before them.

"You planned this…" Batman realised.

"Yes," Grodd smirked darkly, "It was supposed to be Superman who left, but perhaps this has worked out for the better."

Superman and Batman dodged as the waves came at them again, but Grodd was expanding them, and this time Batman was hit.

"AH!" He gasped loudly as the shocks knocked him over.

It started at his hip, and travelled around his body.

"Since Flash's disk never activated, this wouldn't have worked on him. When the connection is made to the intended host, the disks inject just a tiny amount of serum specifically designed to tamper with the hosts nervous system when combined with my telepathic abilities."

Grodd focused the assault on Batman, keeping him pinned.

"Enough!"

"Superman…don't!" Bats tried to warn his friend as he came to his rescue.

Grodd only smirked as the Kryptonian approached, and turned the waves on him. It didn't affect him nearly as bad as Bruce, but it stilled slowed him down enough that Grodd was able to land the first punch, and send him flying back.

"Don't worry Superman, I made sure to give you an extra powerful dose," Grodd stepped forward, now shifting his attention to Kal, "Heatwave with me, the two captains? Take care of the Dark Knight."

Captain Cold fired his weapon. Batman easily dodged, but had slightly more trouble avoiding the boomerangs that followed suit.

"Keep on him! And bring me the kryptonite," Grodd ordered as Superman put up a good effort against the onslaught, even with Heatwave firing his retrieved weapon.

Batman kept dodging, but the rogues were trying to corner him.

"TAKE IT!" He suddenly yelled out, as he fished the stone from his belt, and threw it away into the rubble.

"Get it, I'll handle the bat!" Cold yelled.

Boomerang practically hurdled over the rubble, digging around where the kryptonite had fallen, and a fair distance around it.

"It ain't here!"

He heard a loud "OOF!" and looked around; without the double assault, Batman had found his opening and skirted around Colds weapon, delivering a quick but powerful shot to his stomach.

Boomerang threw his weapons, which Batman countered with his own.

The two rogues and the dark knight continued fighting, whilst Grodd and Heatwave were forced to back up as Superman was almost to his feet.

"What's taking you fools so long!?" Grodd growled, "Where's the kryptonite?"

"Ask the bloody bat, it's gone!"

"Fine, then finish up with him and get over here!"

Boomerang took the offensive again, practically dancing around with Batman as both kept their distance, looking for an opening. Captain Cold in the meantime, aimed his weapon, waiting for a moment to strike.

"ACK!" Something tripped him up then, making him stumble and fire his weapon off aim, missing Batman but skimming Boomerang.

"WATCH IT!"

No sooner had he said that though, that he felt his own feet pulled out from under him, and landed hard on his back.

"What's going on over there!?"

Grodd could barely turn his attention to see what was going on as Superman still drew closer, but something seemingly irrelevant DID make itself known…something he'd almost forgotten about.

"I see now," His face darkened, "Heatwave, light this place up."

"Huh? But…"

"Just do it," Grodd turned slightly in his direction threateningly.

Grumbling, Heatwave did so, spreading flames around everywhere he could. It seemed pointless at first, until he jumped when a figure rose from beneath the ground, backing away from the fire.

"As I thought," Grodd smirked as J'onn flew out of reach, the kryptonite held tightly in one hand.

Without being under his control, there was no way Superman would've hurt another human being...but a Martian who could take the blow? Once Grodd had seen the victim's body missing from where it had fallen, he'd understood.

The Martian stayed air born, clearly keeping as much distance between himself and Superman as possible.

"J'onn, get out of here!" Batman yelled.

"I don't think so," Grodd smirked.

He aimed his telepathic waves for the Martian, and though at first they didn't seem to affect him, J'onn suddenly stopped mid-air, and phased back into his solid form.

"Oh no..." Batman breathed out.

_'Not him to!'_

"Good Martian, now bring me what you're holding."

J'onn looked to the ape, before drifting down before him. He held out the small chunk of kryptonite for Grodd to take.

"Excellent. Now, go help restrain Batman."

J'onn only looked to his friend to locate him, before he flew at him. Cold stopped firing to let the Martian through, whilst Batman was forced to brace himself as J'onn crashed into him.

Then again, as they wrestled upon the ground, it became apparent that Batman had no intention of releasing his team mate.

Superman had flown aside when Grodd got the kryptonite, and now moved to help his friend.

"Not so fast Kryptonian."

Just as Superman was about to pull J'onn off, he was struck in the back. For the man of steel, the force of the blow was nothing, but a nasty burning spread over his skin from the point of impact, draining his strength as fast as water released from cupped hands.

He collapsed to the ground, the kryptonite barely inches from his body.

Batman looked to the stone, but couldn't reach it, nor even try to get closer with J'onns strength bearing down on him. The rogues were seeing their chance to close in on the fallen heroes, and neither of them could move an inch.

"I suppose at least this won't be a complete waste of time," Grodd smirked, "It's a real shame, you both should've stuck with me whilst you had the chance, but at least I'll have a few of your little friends on my…"

The ape completely lost his balance as a burst of red wind shot past his side.

"Hey guys, I got him!" Flash called as he stopped in the middle of the grounds, an unconscious Lex Luthor thrown over his good shoulder, "Don't worry Supes, I ate like I said I would! Man this guy's heavier than he looks, but it's a good thing you didn't go Supes, he got his hands on more kryptonite and had it set up everywhere, but weird thing is, I also found a…!"

Flash paused as he took in the scene around him; he dropped Luthor, and in a burst of speed, he crashed through the rogues, grabbed the kryptonite and disappeared, only to reappear without it seconds later.

He literally jumped upon J'onns back, wrestling with him until he found the control disk hidden beneath his cape against his shoulder.

He vibrated his hand until the disk was shattered, before turning a deadly glare to the rogues.

They backed up, before turning their weapons towards him. As the Martian groaned and began to stand though, Flash grabbed him and zipped away, leaving his friend out of the battle range. He did the same with Batman and Superman, before he came to stand before his enemies once more.

"Flash…" Kal mumbled as he started to recover, and moved to help him.

However, Batman quickly held his arm up, blocking his path.

"We…do NOT want to get in the way now…" He whispered, recalling the look he'd seen on Wally's face.

"You know, I was actually gonna let you guys off easy…" Flash almost growled as he walked fearlessly towards the rogues, "You weren't thinking completely straight before, so I was just gonna knock ya out, break your weapons…again…and take you to jail…"

He stopped, and pointed to Grodd.

"Even you Grodd, I mean come on! J'onn!? Nicest guy on the planet and you make him do your dirty work...talk about a new level of low. I thought you were just being controlled by Luthor, but I guess that's what you wanted us to believe, isn't it? Can't believe I'm saying this, but Luthor is actually a victim today."

He dropped the disk he'd taken off of Luthor, and crushed it under his foot.

"You've messed up my day pretty bad ape-man, at least now I know it wasn't COMPLETELY my own doing…"

"So what are you planning Flash? It's not your style to cause more harm than necessary, even against your enemies…" Grodd scoffed.

"With how much I've ended up hurting those I care for today? You'll wish it was…"

"You talk so tough Flash, but everyone knows that's all it ever is with you," Cold retorted.

"Too right…ain't got a mean bone in your body," Boomerang agreed.

" Mean?" Flash quirked an eyebrow.

His face had become surprised, but as he visibly contemplated something, it slowly changed, almost to the point one would say it was reforming.

"Oh man…" Kal whispered.

"Not THAT look…" Even J'onn looked near horrified.

"Well shame on you Grodd, at least the others came prepared…!" Flash jeered, "…well I _hope_ they did, or this'll get too awkward."

A frown still adorned his face, yet once couldn't miss the mischief rising.

"Prepared for…?"

Grodd didn't get to finish before Flash tore away the sling and raced off, coming back very soon after with ropes, chains, and…

…a very large bed sheet??

"So monkey-man, what do you take? Extra Large…or King "Kong" size!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was the longest chapter ever! DX...well, of this story XP lol!
> 
> As always, sorry for any bad spelling or grammar...tried so hard to get it all this time, but probably still missed some.
> 
> Ok, so the things I mentioned earlier on, were of course 1: Flash's shoulder...whilst I know that a dislocated shoulder shouldn't be moved, I've been told that once pushed back into place, it IS possible to move it, but will very likely pop right back out if you do.
> 
> And 2: I don't deny in the slightest that the 'sugar rush speed healing' or whatever you would like to say was me being creative, as this IS fan fiction. I'm not sure if something of the sort WOULD happen, but if absolutely nothing else...couldn't resist the image of Flash with a lolly pop in his mouth XP too cute!
> 
> I hope that's everything that needed to be covered... thanks for reading!
> 
> Will update asap...hopefully a little sooner this time :P


	4. And So I Speak My Heart: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter is quite a lot smaller compared to the others, because once again it was supposed to be on the beginning of the next chapter, which I was more than a little surprised to realise the length of :P lol, for which reason again this was split. I would've loved to have made this chapter just a bit longer, but truthfully, there wasn't a better place to cut it, so here we go :)
> 
> It may be a small thing, but I have to say, doing chapters in a 'Part 1' 'Part 2' fashion is not something I'm too used to, but as I mentioned, this chapter was only separated because of it's length.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read and everything, I'm so very grateful for the support!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot for this fan fiction.

_…and back to our main story of the day, police and citizens were baffled, and admittedly amused by the scene that took place early this afternoon in Central City.  
Whilst its residence are no strangers to crimes and battles involving super humans…good and bad…many have said this was a first even for them…'_

The news report switched to footage of a ruined street in Central City. It focused upon three rogues and Metropolis's own Lex Luthor, all struggling to free themselves where they hung tied from lamp posts, each suffering the embarrassment…not to mention pain…of a mega wedgie.

Upon the road below, Gorilla Grodd was bound even heavier, but suffered the same fate through means of a king sized bed sheet tied around him.

_'Locals say a battle between the rogues and Grodd took place against Superman, Batman and the cities own protector, the Flash. Lex Luthors involvement in a scenario outside of Metropolis is currently unknown, but it's reported that the politician is currently under questioning, along with the criminals involved. The Justice League was on the scene shortly after, though refused to comment. Government officials are seeking contact with the Justice League to discuss the event furth…'_

The TV flicked off, leaving the room in a moment of shared awkwardness.

"So go over this for me…one more time?" John groaned, looking completely put off from the report.

"Grodd was looking to control each of us through these," Superman explained, pushing a now snapped control disk into the middle of the table where six out of seven founders sat, "He wanted Luthor to look like the culprit to throw us off, but Grodd himself designed the original disks…he just needed Luthors technology and resources to advance the disks and keep a ready supply of them."

"I still don't understand how these work. You said they weren't like his helmet," Wonder Woman looked to him.

"His old helmet allowed him control over a person's mind, making them a blind, voiceless puppet to his command. Unlike that, these devices don't affect the mind…they affect a persons will and emotions. You'll feel like everything is fine, and be completely aware of what's going on around you, but everything you do and think will be directly affected by Grodds will."

"So, he made you see things his way?"

"Literally; He made us BOTH believe that hurting Flash was justifiable if it meant planting a disk upon him as well, as though we'd be helping him by doing so."

"He somehow got to some of the staff on the watch tower, and through them, to members of the league itself," Batman gave a barely subtle gesture to J'onn.

"I…I apologise, I'm not sure how or when…" The Martian hung his head.

"This isn't your fault J'onn," Kal cut him off firmly, "Grodd was dependant on subtly. For all we know, the staff may have been affected for weeks before one even managed to bug you."

"Our security's been severely compromised. Have all the disks been found?" John asked.

"Everyone on board has been checked, and anyone on Earth has been summoned for inspection. Seven in total have been found, including J'onn. Three staff members, plus Super girl, the Atom and Dove were the others."

"Dove? I never would've suspected him," Shiera said shocked.

"Not many would've, which is probably why Grodd chose him as a test."

"A test?"

"Dove may not be a meta human, but he's still a member of the Justice League. Grodd probably wanted to see how well the disk held out during battle, and how strong his control remained in different situations. According to Dove, right after Hawk and Elongated man taunted the Flash, he apparently snapped and seemed almost out of control as he tied them up."

"You think Grodd can remotely affect our emotions via the disks? That would explain it, hogtieing team mates isn't something Flash would do."

"No Shiera, I'm afraid you're wrong. Flash was already agitated enough that he _wanted_ to do it, all Grodd had to do was give his emotions the tiniest nudge to push them past his self-control. With Doves proximity at the time, it seems to be the conclusion."

"And the Atom?"

"Probably the next one affected. Grodd needed to know if his disks could withstand abilities like shrinking. Best guess? He used Atom to spy on all of us around the watch tower…that's how he knew what was going on, when to act, and when to simply wait."

"But Batman, you were on the monitors the whole time you were chasing Flash. I know they went down for awhile, but didn't his communicator show up around the place?" Wonder Woman put in.

"He'd removed it; he was showing up in one of the labs the entire time. He stayed close to Flash but kept well enough away from Superman in case his heart beat was heard."

"Of course most of this is still theory," Kal added, "We'll have to finish reviewing all the security footage we managed to get, and interviewing the staff before we can put ALL the pieces together, including whether or not Kara was the one behind the tele porter breaking down."

"I hate to say it Clark, but…"

"I know John, it likely was her... I just want to be certain. No doubt she was Grodds third target."

"And how do you think he went?"

"Not as well," Kal answered, "Kara was found to have two hidden on her…" He pushed forward the disks in question, one was ordinary, the other had a small 's' inscribed upon it, "This is likely how Grodd learnt that the regular disks don't work on meta humans, or specific non metas like Batman. They had to be tailored to fit each individual, so their abilities wouldn't counteract or damage the disks, hence Luthors involvement. Atoms was likely altered as well, but not to such a degree."

"You said Flash was the one to figure out the difference," J'onn spoke up, "how was he able to free both of you?"

"Fastest feet…AND fastest hands around," Kal shrugged lightly, "Whilst we were still under control, he managed to get hold of Batmans utility belt. We thought he was either trying to get hold on the Kryptonite, or remove the control disk. Instead, he switched the one meant for him with the one for Batman…"

* * *

_Batman felt his shoulders slump slightly, as pressure seemed to release from around his body._

_"Flash, please…I'm sorry for what we've put you through today, but we just want you here with us."_

_"Liar, how CAN you want me…?"_

_He glanced up; Superman had pulled Flash close, the speedster huddled into his chest as they spoke._

_When the man of steel smiled down to the younger man, Batman fought to keep a frown off his face. He could see as well as Flash could, that that wasn't Clarks smile…just some poster perfect pose anyone could pull off. There was nothing genuinely warm in the expression._

_Bruce could no longer feel the pull against his will; he could know hurting Flash was wrong AND convince himself not to do so._

_Clark, however…_

_"Flash…" He quickly spoke up as Superman finished talking, "…It's going to be alright, trust me, everything will work out."_

_Good thing he was brilliant at sounding convincing when he wanted; he had to whilst Clark was still under control. Kryptonite or not, he had to pretend until he was close enough to…_

_The look Flash gave him almost made him blow his own cover. The speedster seemed surprised, but also relieved…_

_…He'd heard him. He'd heard the Batman he knew and trusted._

_Wally turned away into Superman, hiding his face as he tried to calm down. He was breaking…giving in, Bruce had to stop this before that happened._

_He could see the disk in the front of Clarks suit; alright, he just had to wait for Flash to back up so he could…_

_…if it was anyone besides Flash, he'd think the light was playing tricks on his eyes. But a red blur snapped in and out of his vision between Wally and Clark, moments before the older slouched in a similar way as Bruce had just a moment ago._

_He watched carefully as Wally looked up to Clark with a hopeful expression._

_This time when the Kryptonian smiled at him, they all knew it was real…warm and thankful…unmistakable Kal-El._

_"Ok…" Flash whispered, his relieved smile disappearing as Kal wiped away a tear from his face._

_Bruce almost cringed as Flash looked back to him in fear; he'd heard and seen the men he cared for, but still wasn't certain whatever he'd done had truly worked…_

_…he was putting all his trust in what happened next._

_"No more running…"_

_The speedster fiddled with the disk in his hand, and though all he did was maybe twist it around slightly, Bruce quickly realised that the action had been very much intentional;_

_There on the top of the disk, was a tiny version of Supermans symbol._

_Could it be…?_

_Defeating Grodd wouldn't be enough. Even if the three of them were all in their right mind now, they needed to know his full intentions and the damage he'd done so far, and to do that, they'd have to play his game…at least for now…_

_He reached for the disk Flash was holding, and though he was hesitant, the speedster soon released it. Superman gently encouraged Flash to turn his face, so Batman could slide the disk down below the neckline to rest against his chest._

_Flash had his eyes shut tight, like he was waiting for something to happen…it was actually sort of cute._

_Kal placed a light kiss to the tip of the speedsters nose, which caused him to blink in surprise. A quick glance around, and he found both of them smiling at him._

_Wally touched the disk under his uniform, still waiting, before he looked between them again, this time his eyes asking for reassurance._

_Bruce nodded gently at him, and watched as his face broke into joy. He quickly indicated for him to remain silent and tapped the device under his belt…_

_…it was paranoid even for him, but he didn't trust Grodd not to have some way of hearing them through the devices._

_Flash nodded, and reached for the dark knight, only to grit his teeth and freeze as his shoulder sent a blunt reminder of its current state. He tensed and fought to keep down a cry of pain._

_Kals smile vanished in an instant, and Bruce quickly moved around to the injury._

_Flash let out a shaky breath, glancing around at a ripping sound; Kal had torn off half his cape, which he handed to Bruce, before carefully rearranging himself to be securing Flash's position._

_The speedster didn't resist, thought he couldn't help the minor blush that crept over his face. He looked very confused when Clark held his hand out flat in front of his face. The Kryptonian smiled encouragingly, and as Wally suddenly understood, he shook his head in shock._

_"It's ok…" Kal mouthed to him as Bruce took hold of his arm._

_Wally really didn't want to, no matter whether or not he was capable of hurting the man of steel…_

_"No more…" He whispered, a beg in his voice._

_He knew he wouldn't be able to keep quiet or still on his own, but he didn't want to do ANYTHING more to hurt them today, permission or not._

_When he still hesitated, Kal gave an understanding smile, and instead turned his face back to meet his, gently pulling him into a kiss. It always amazed the speedster how the strongest man alive could have the gentlest touch he knew._

_Severe pain was coming…he knew that, but as he gave a small sigh, his attention was kind enough to turn away from his mind, instead allowing him to feel calm for the first real time that day._

_He kissed back shyly, letting Kal lead; Flash didn't consider himself a bad kisser…just a lot less experienced than he really wanted to admit…_

_The strong hand moved from his face, trailing across his neck, the thumb brushing over his cheek…and then it all came to a halt as Superman just held his face still, as agony snapped through Wallys shoulder, causing a nasty quake throughout his whole body._

_His scream was drowned by the mouth firmly sealed over his own, and the Kryptonian didn't pull back until he was certain it was over._

_The speedster gasped loudly for air as he was released. He felt furious at the tears the pain sent streaming down his face, but kept as still as he could as Batman used the torn cape to create a sling._

_The second the dark knight finished though, Wally…forgetting caution now that his arm wasn't screaming…grabbed both men by the front of their uniforms, and pulled them close._

_The two had almost ended up smashing heads from the sudden pull, but neither reprimanded him for it, staying close to the speedster for just a bit longer, before gently encouraging him to let go, which he did._

_"What now?" Wally mouthed to Bruce._

_"Call J'onn," Batman kept his voice quiet, reaching to remove the device from Wally's uniform for now, just to be safe, "Tell him to find us, but to stay hidden…Grodd will want to know for sure we're all on his side…we'll need help from the shadows," He gave a scolding frown, "…and don't you even make a joke about that."_  
  
_Wally just gave a guilty grin, and the Dark Knight couldn't feel cross for long._

* * *

"Hold on," Shiera interrupted, "You two were affected right away by the disks. According to your story, J'onn wasn't under control until he entered the fight with Grodd…"

"I'll have to run some tests to be certain, but my guess is that the disks were activated by proximity. At some point or another, Grodd had to have been close enough to the workers, Supergirl, Atom and Dove to activate them, even if he remained out of sight. He must've had less chance to get to J'onn, or purposely left him unaffected as a trump card in case he needed back up."

"I owe you an apology J'onn. I had to hit you hard enough to convince Grodd, but even I was worried for a moment there," Kal looked to the Martian.

"It's perfectly fine Superman," J'onn smiled to him, "You knocked the wind out of me, but it ended in nothing more than a few bruises."

"Well you played the part well. If you hadn't shimmered between forms slightly to let me know, I'd have thought I was attacking an actual civilian."

"There's still a few ends to tie up, but why don't you two go rest up for a while…we'll oversee the rest of the clean-up in Central City," John looked between Batman and Superman.

"You to J'onn, we may have got that serum out of your system, but you still took a beating like the others," Wonder Woman added as she stood, "One thing first though; Why Flash? If your theories are right, then everything Grodd did was aimed at Flash. Of course he hates him, but none the less…?"

Superman and Batman shared a look.

"It was to get to us. He's clearly been watching us for a while, at least long enough to know about the three of us. He figured Flash was the easiest to manipulate through his metabolism, and where Flash went, we would follow."

"Sorry, but I can't wait any longer…" Shiera looked to them, "…Where IS Wally right now?"

"At the manor," Bruce answered her, "That extreme sugar rush combined with his exhaustion caused him to pass out the moment he finished….tying up…Grodd and the others."

* * *

It was a truly conflicting situation; on the one hand he certainly wasn't looking forward to cleaning the linen after this, but then it was undeniably nice to see someone eating his cooking with such gusto, and have them make it clear how much they were genuinely enjoying it.

"Man Alfred, you've really gotta give some of your recipes to the watch tower chefs, this is the best!"

"As you said about the last three dishes, Master Wallace," Alfred replied calmly, but there was the slightest hint of humour to his tone.

Wally looked at him from where he sat up in the large, plush bed, still holding the fork in his mouth; He'd already chowed his way through a pot of thick beef stew with a large helping of mash potato...a giant plate of veggies and fruit...three or four warm bread rolls (he forgot to count)...and a reasonable serving of spaghetti bolognaise with salad.

"It's ALL really good. I never thought I'd come to Wayne Manor and get to eat a whole pot of chow mein…it's one of my favourites!"

"Yes, Master Bruce said to make sure I included it amongst the choice of meals."

Wally found himself swallowing the last mouthful hard.

"…he did?"

He looked to Alfred as he removed the now empty tray.

"He specified that you were only to have 'proper' meals. Nothing deep fried, greasy or…and I quote… ' any sugar in its many over glorified forms'…"

"Heh, when did Bats start caring so much about my health?" Wally chuckled as he rested his face on his fist, remembering the water and soda conversation from earlier.

His eyes drifted down, his smile fading slowly.

"Hey…um…how long was I asleep? Is he back yet?"

"Around four hours Master Wallace, but almost six if you include eating time. And yes, Master Bruce and Master Clark returned about an hour ago. They wished to see you once you had slept, eaten and bathed."

"Bathed?" Wally raised a critical eyebrow, "They saying that I…!"

He cut himself off as he raised his arm, and suddenly went pale in the face.

"…never mind," He quickly clamped the arm back against his side, "…umm…where's the bathroom?"

"Straight through the door there sir," Alfred kindly pointed to the ensuite, "I'll inform the master that you'll be along shortly."

"Heh, but not too shortly; I tried having a speed shower once…ended up with more shampoo in my eyes than the bottle."

He stood and stretched, and made his way to the ensuite, before his nerves got the better of him again.

"…Alfred?"

"Yes Master Wallace?"

"Uumm…" He glanced to the butler, "…maybe it's not right for me to ask this, but…what do YOU think of it?"

"It, sir?"

"Our relationship…uh, I mean me being with Bruce and Clark, do you think it's…well…"

Alfreds face softened slightly as the boy glanced away.

"It is, perhaps, a little unusual…" Alfred tended to the trolley he'd used to deliver the food, "…or more correctly, it seems odd at times to know master Bruce has allowed not just one, but two people to grow so close to him."

Wally felt his cheeks warm in surprise, and glanced back.

"And…do you…?"

"If you're wondering how I _'feel'_ about it, perhaps the better question would be…how many times have I suggested that the master get to know someone beyond what he can learn of them in one night?"

Wally couldn't help it…he grinned.

"Hey this is Batman we're talking about, he could learn the whole history of a country in one night and recite it by heart."

It felt like a small, silly victory as he watched Alfreds poker face curl ever so slightly in amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, I'm not sure if some things would've seemed likely or such in this chapter...but there it is.
> 
> As always, sorry for any bad spelling and grammar.
> 
> Lol, yes chow mein seemed like an odd choice, but I wanted something a bit different...and...I was eating chow mein at the time I very first wrote the part, XD lol, couldn't resist!
> 
> Well, the next chapter will definitely be longer...probably around the same length as the others, and hopefully not too far away. If this one has a few more mistakes than usual, I apologise...it's actually early hours of the morning here...I usually don't post this late, but sometimes...like now...when I really want to post a new chapter... :P
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, will update asap!


	5. And So I Speak My Heart: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! That was a long one! XD lol, but then I think I've said that about almost all of them :P Sorry for the delay, I think I needed a few days off from writing again before I got to work on re-reading this chapter :)
> 
> I'm pretty happy with how this one came out...at least for the most part... hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favoured and followed, it really means so much :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot for this fanfiction.

"Stop beating yourself up, you know as well as I that it wasn't in our control."

"Yes I do know, that's not going to stop the guilt for me…OR you."

"It couldn't be…"

"Couldn't be helped, just as you said…but don't you dare even try to pretend you're past it."

Clark stood from where he'd been seated on the bed, standing tall before Bruce.

"Don't even try it…not with me Bruce. I could've badly hurt Wally when I knocked him out, and YOU could've broken his leg when you struck him. I can't believe I'm the one stating the blunt fact we both know; that we were lucky we had enough control NOT to seriously injure him!"

"If you're missing me stating the obvious, that's because it is just that…clear as crystal, and unnecessary to point out!"

"Maybe not to be pointed out, but brought up and confronted is another matter…"

"And just what exactly are we to confront that we each haven't already done? We both know our little game went wrong, and that today could've ended far worse than a few ruined streets and a headache inducing inspection of the whole League. My computers are finishing the analysis of all of Grodds equipment…Luthor and the Rogues are still under questioning…and the others are taking care of the rest of the inspections and clean up. The only thing we can do for now is…"

"Is to talk to Wally…" Kal finished in a heavy, but calmer tone.

He moved to Bruce's turned back, touching his arm.

"Bruce, you don't like to beat around the bush, and you don't have to now. We came so close to destroying what we have…" He turned the dark knight to face him, "…I was scared to. Even as Grodds will convinced me of my actions, I felt true terror of what he might order next…"

Bruce had calmed as well, but his face was lowered.

"Bruce…" Kal leant down to meet his eyes, "…what is it?"

There was a quiver in the dark eyes, something that no one else would ever see…a spark of hesitation.

"…do you remember the look on his face, when we found him hiding in that building?" He finally whispered, "…Flash zips to the other side of the room any time I give him a stern look, and he cowers like a scolded puppy whenever you reprimand him, but he's never…never been afraid of us…not truly."

"I doubt I'll be able to forget it," Kal replied, "But I also remember his reaction when he managed to free us from Grodds control. Bruce, he clung to us both so tight…I think he was more terrified of letting us go, than he was of us hurting him again…"

"Maybe, but that was all in the moment, and Wally is naturally forgiving. Even if he smiles and laughs, that terror isn't going to fade so easily…"

"You're underestimating his strength, but even if that's so, then we help him regain his trust in us, we prove he doesn't have to be afraid."

"Clark, we've been boring into him all day about facing us…and now, _I_ don't know how to face _him_."

"The same way you and I faced each other…" Kal smiled as he pulled the dark knight close, "…and the same way Wally faced us the first time, when he first tol…"

A knock broke the atmosphere.

"Master Bruce?"

"Come on in Alfred," Bruce pulled out of Kals arms, though he gripped his hand tightly for a few seconds, saving the emotion of the interrupted moment in that one, strong gesture.

"Apologies for the interruption, I brought what you requested sir," Alfred wheeled in a trolley with fresh cloche covered plates.

"Thank you Alfred, How is Wally doing?"

"Aside from a few fast fading bruises over his shoulder, rather well actually," Alfred answered simply, "…wouldn't you say, Master Wallace?"

The protectors of Gotham and Metropolis looked to the doorway as Flash stepped hesitantly into view. His hair was still damp, and from there they could smell whatever lightly fragranced soap he'd used. He was dressed in a dark blue, long sleeved shirt and loose black pants…both a bit big on him.

Wally didn't meet their gaze right away, but when he did, he initially resorted straight to his happy go lucky expression.

"Hey Bats, you should put your name on your door…it's a total maze in this mansion," He laughed playfully, "…Alfred had to show me the way here."

When the other two didn't respond, his grin turned slightly sheepish, but he continued anyway.

"Hope you don't mind…Alfred lent me some of your clothes. I didn't have any clean ones here, and well….when it came down to size, it was between you and Clark, so…"

The speedster stopped as sharply as if he'd bitten his tongue. His smile faded, the jokester mask dropping away without an effort to catch it.

"Wally…?" Clark moved to him, and held his shoulder.

He was shaking; His whole being was wrestling between staying and fleeing.

"No more running…" His voice shook as much as his body, but his eyes finally turned back to the man before him, "…I promised."

He shifted uncomfortably.

"I-If this is a bad time…I-I get it, it can wait…but I…I-I just…"

Kal gave him a warm smile, and wrapped his arm across his shoulders, gently steering the smaller male into the room. He could feel the tension growing in the comparatively tiny body, but he wouldn't let him run even if the nerves got their way. Wally could've run off as soon as he'd eaten and been way out of reach before they even knew it, but they'd trusted him to stay, and he did…what's more, he'd come to them, rather than the other way around…

…Kal wouldn't let his courage go to waste now.

Bruce nodded to Alfred, who passed a kinder, knowing look few others ever saw. He left the three almost as swiftly and silently as the Dark knight himself, the door not even clicking as it shut behind him.

Clark gently pulled Wally to sit on the edge of the bed with him whilst Bruce brought the trolley over, before taking his place on the speedsters other side.

"Uuhh…" Wally began.

"First things first," Bruce suddenly interrupted, removing the cloches.

One tray was full of…and Wally blinked to make sure he was seeing right…hotdogs, whilst the other held generously iced cupcakes.

Wally looked between the two other heroes in confusion.

"But…I already ate…"

" _You_ might've, but Clark and I have been waiting awhile," Bruce answered simply as he took a hot dog and bit into it.

"Besides, I won't believe it if you say you don't have room for a cupcake," Clark teased as he took one for himself, and handed another to Wally.

The speedster accepted it, but found himself watching the other two silently as they ate.

_'Ok, this makes less sense than most things today…'_  
  
Sure they needed to eat and all of course….but hotdogs and cupcakes? As a snack maybe…but neither Clark nor Bruce were the type to pick such foods when they were actually hungry.

_'So much for proper meals…and Bruce was so concerned with what I ate.'_  
  
Still, the sweet sitting in his hands was too distracting, and he soon took a bite.

It was delicious! A simple moist banana cupcake with creamy vanilla icing, it was just…!

Something dinged in Wally's memory…well and truly vague, but present none the less.

He looked to the others again. He found himself watching as Bruce wiped sauce from his mouth, and Clark cleaned off a stray drop off icing that found its way to his cheek.

He tried to stop staring by stuffing another bite in his mouth. He wound up with a lump of frosting splatted over his own face, but stopped himself before he could just wipe it off with his arm…

That wasn't HIS sleeve he'd be smudging after all.

Thankfully, Alfred had kindly provided a small pile of serviettes. He nicked one from the tray and speedily wiped his face clean…

…well, so he thought…the quiet chuckle next to him said otherwise.

Clark was on the verge of full out grinning as he returned to his own food.

"Doesn't learn," He heard Bruce mutter, but even he was smirking in amusement.

He touched his face to find frosting still present, and with a grumble, cleaned it off at regular speed.

Ding! There went his memory again, determined to get his attention without actually saying what it wanted.

"May I?"

Wally looked to Clark as he held his hand out. With a calm smile he offered him a napkin, almost laughing as he saw that Clark now had both sauce and frosting on his face this time.

Harmless…nothing important it seemed? So he believed right up until Clark turned away to clean his face…

DING DING DING!

_'Well ring the bell someone!'_  
  
The slap of skin on skin caught the attention of both Bruce and Kal, turning their attention to Wally, whose palm rested upon his forehead.

"The whole damn day….this is about the ketchup and frosting…isn't it…?" The speedster groaned heavily.

He didn't even need to look to know they were smirking, confirming his answer.

* * *

" _Flash! Don't eat AT the buffet, go sit down and finish what's on your plate…umm…plates…"_

_"Wally glanced around at Shiera, a half-eaten cupcake held in his mouth._

_"Re'ax sh'era…" Wally quickly ate the cake to free his mouth, "…the food's really good today, didn't want it to go to waste,"_

_"Wally, no food is likely to go to waste here," She indicated to the large crowd in the mess hall, "Now go eat your meal…if that's what you want to call it…" She raised an eyebrow at the plates held in each of his hands._

_"What?" Wally frowned defensively, "So I really like the watch tower hotdogs and cupcakes…besides, Firestorm took the last of the burgers…"_

_As Wally continued to banter with his big sister figure, others within the mess hall were taking part in less harmless conversations._

_"Face it Booster, you're a wannabe and everyone knows it," Elongated Man goaded._

_"This coming from the taffy man," Booster Gold spat back, "Seriously, what kind of ability is that? Oooo…you can stretch really far, how terrifying…"_

_"You bet your phony ass it is! If you're not convinced I can always show you…"_

_"Guys, this isn't the place for such behaviour…" Dove spoke up from where he sat close by._

_"Oh let them be Don, you don't think any place is right for it," Hank nudged him hard._

_"Of course I don't," Don frowned at him, "You're just saying to back off because you want to see them fight."_

_"Heck yeah, we need something to lighten the mood today…" Hank paused as Booster suddenly punched E'man, "Oh yeah, FIGHT!" He cheered, raising his cup and sploshing his drink._

_That outburst of course, got everyone else's attention, even Superman and Batman as they entered the hall._

_"That's it Goldie locks!" E-man stretched his leg and caught the other straight in the gut._

_"Knock it off both of you!" Mr. Terrific stood from where he was._

_"Stay out of it!" Booster yelled as he got to his feet._

_Though generally known for his ego and strong misjudgement, the fighter from the future held his own fairly well as the two broke into a full out brawl._

_But so focused on the fight, he didn't even notice as ever loyal Skeets stuck too close for once, and got knocked to the ground as Booster ducked an attack._

_"Hey! That's enough!" Flash saw the fallen bot._

_He handed a tray to Shiera and dashed over, grabbing the little bot before it got trampled._

_"ENOUGH!"_

_The order was followed by a strong gust that knocked both the fighters to the ground._

_The whole room fell silent; those who'd been cheering now ducked their heads as Superman and Batman entered the fray._

_"Do you two think this is in any way acceptable or justifiable?" Superman's tone was controlled, but unmistakably harsh._

_"Do ANY of you think so?" Batman added, looking around at the rest of the crowd._

_His glare took its time as it drifted over Hawk and a few others._

_"But sir, he…!" Booster being Booster, had to try…_

_…and was shut down very quickly by both heroes with a pair of warning glares._

_It was then he finally noticed the absence of his sidekick, and looked around in panic._

_"Skeets!" He finally spotted him held against Flash's chest._

_When he reached for him though, Flash tightened his grip, his own expression rather angry._

_"Flash…" Superman said after a few seconds of Booster…not to mention a few others…worrying that the speedster wouldn't give Skeets back._

_His tone had turned to a calm assurance, and though the anger didn't vanish, Flash released the little bot, which flew straight to his master._

_"We'll be speaking to you both later…" Batman warned them, his tone final._

_Booster and E-man could only answer with a crestfallen 'Yes sir', before they and everyone else was dismissed from the mess hall._

_"Do I detect a full team talk on the way?" Shiera sighed._

_She quirked an eyebrow at the tray still in her hand, and gladly deposited it on the nearest table._

_"A very large one at the least," Superman held his head._

_"I know arguments happen once in a while, but that wasn't like either of them," Flash turned to the others._

_"Built up tension; those two have been jabbing at each other for weeks," Supes answered, "I'm pretty sure it only started off as playful competition, but somewhere along the lines it made a wrong turn."_

_The Kryptonian raised a disapproving eyebrow, and when he didn't look away, Flash raised his own eyebrow to question him._

_"I know you can get away with eating basically anything you want, but I hope you weren't planning to have ALL of that to yourself…"_

_"Oh man, you to?" Flash groaned as he took his tray into both hands, "Shiera already told me off for it…"_

_"Is this because I told you off for skipping the salad station yesterday?" Batman questioned, crossing his arms._

_"No…" Wally meant it, but felt his cheeks turning rosy anyway._

_He could see Shiera out the corner of his eye, and knew she was quietening a giggle._

_It had recently become founder knowledge that Flash had joined Batman and Supermans existing relationship, and his sister in spirit did delight in teasing him when the chance arose…her AND Green Lantern. Heck, even Wonder Woman passed the occasional wink or nudge, and he'd swear over his beloved super-secret flash-stash that he'd caught J'onn smiling playfully once._

_"I'm just eating what I want to eat, ok?"_

_"Maybe, but even you generally make sure to have…"_

_"Fine, I'll get a doggy bag of leafy greens on my way out, deal?" Flash interrupted, and pushed his way between them, "Stop treating me so much like a ki-IIIDD!"_

_Flash hadn't noticed Hawks spilt drink on the floor, and stepped into it. His foot slipped completely out from under him, sending him straight to his back on the floor, and his tray of junk food right over his head into the air._

_"Oow…" He groaned as he sat up, flinching as he held his ankle._

_"Flash, are you alright?" Shiera crouched next to him, and he quickly released his limb._

_"Yeah, all good…just my ego…" He grumbled, brushing himself off._

_'AH! Oow…ow…!'_

_"Glad to hear it…"_

_The sarcastic growl came from Batman, and as Flash looked around, he was slightly mortified to see that his food had crashed all over Bats and Supes, leaving a gross mix of icing and ketchup all over them and their uniforms._

_"Crud!" He zipped back to the buffet and grabbed a load of napkins, "Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry…!"_

_He sped around them…bitting his lip against the throbbing…trying to wipe clean the mess. But when he stood back, the inspection proved he'd just made it worse._

_Supermans hair was now in a weird, spiked mess as the icing acted like weak hair gel, and Batmans suit was stained in red, except the attempt to get it off a grey uniform had made it fade to…well, not quite red._

_What WAS red, was both their faces, and given his situation, Flash wasn't so sure that was from ketchup…_

_He opened his mouth to apologise again, but shut it quickly as he felt a VERY familiar bubbling in his stomach._

_Oh did he ever try to keep a straight face…he really really did….but as the bubbling grew and made his body shake, he bit his fist trying in vain to hide his stupid grin._

_He couldn't stop his darn imagination from having its fun, but contrary to common thought, he COULD keep it to himself._

_A single snort managed to break free as he gave a hurried 'sorry', grabbed the remaining food tray and sped to the exit, side stepping barely in time as he almost crashed into J'onn._

_"Sorry J'onn!" and with a sharp grunt of pain, he was out of there._

* * *

"That was months ago! And I apologised later for it!"

"For the mess, yes, and we forgave you," Supes smirked playfully, "But I'd still like an apology for what you did next."

Wally raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…you mean the laughing…?"

Come on…he'd really tried not to…!

"No," Bruce made him flinch as he growled lightly over his shoulder, "…he means what you were thinking."

"What I was…?" Wally looked around at him, before his face turned to horror.

The memory hadn't crossed his mind a single time since then, and now it stuck out as obvious as GL flying through the night sky.

"Something about me being 'hotter' than usual…?" Bruce's smirk grew a sly edge.

"And that I 'never looked so sweet'?" Kal added as he shifted closer.

_'Oh crud! Deny it! Point out how even you know how cheesy that is! Come on, just tell them…!'_

'….just tell them the truth…'

'…damn you conscience.'

Oh what was the point? Their faces said they KNEW it was the truth.

"Ok, I don't care that you're "the Batman"," He frowned as he pointed at Bruce, "How the heck do you two know!? You're not the ones who can read…"

The answer sparked in his head, cutting him off.

"J'onn came to the hall to see what the fuss was about," Kal explained anyway, "He saw you flinching and was just trying to read your mind to see how you'd hurt yourself…seems he accidently heard more than he expected."

"He…! Well, I guess it's ok if it was just an accident…but still, he couldn't tell that I didn't want it said out loud…?" Wally pouted, crossing his arms.

"He did, but we pushed him to spill it when he starting grinning after you left," Batman replied, "…HE apparently found it quite funny."

Wally stared at the blanket as his face burned hot. Still, his initial offense at the knowledge was disappearing.

"…I didn't…hurt you two when I dropped the tray…did I?" He mumbled.

"No. We know that wasn't your fault. But we _are_ hurt that you didn't tell us you 'd injured yourself." Kals smirk turned to a scolding look, the one that made Wally feel like a dog with his tail between his legs.

"I-I just twisted my ankle…I sat down in my room, and it was healed within the hour…" He tried, surprised by the comment.

"That ISN'T the point Flash," Bruce growled, as he turned his face to meet his, his tone not so playful this time.

"This…this is what you guys were…?" Wally whispered as he suddenly understood.

"Did you really think today was all about a few spilt condiments?"

Is this what they were REALLY upset with him about? Not that he'd made fun of them, but that he hadn't been honest about hurting himself…?

Honest…

…when the hell…he realised in anger…HAD he been honest with them!? Confessing his crush on them had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done, and now he was making the whole effort pointless because he couldn't continue that sincerity with them.

He swallowed silently, and slowly lowered the cupcake back to the tray. He raised his hands to just in line with his shoulders.

"Ok…" He whispered, looking back up, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being a moron…" And no, the playful teasing wasn't what made him a moron, "Point to team cape, you guys win…game over."

The surrender was quickly accepted; He yelped slightly as he was grabbed from behind and pulled to the middle of the bed. Bruce pulled him back against his chest, as Kal came to hover over them, and brushed his palm firmly over Wallys thigh, making him shiver.

"Does anything still hurt…?" Kal paused his touch momentarily.

"Huh? No, a-all's good Supes…" He couldn't help the nervous jokester showing up as he touched his shoulder, "See? All's well that e-OUCH!" He blushed, though his surprise was honest, "…Oh right…maybe just a little bruising still on the shoulder?" He grinned sheepishly.

"He checked out with Alfred," Bruce assured the Kryptonian.

"Well, in that case…" Supes smirk returned, "…shale we pick up where we left off in your room this morning?"

Now Wally felt his stomach knot in nervousness as Kal entered his personal bubble, and Bruce embraced him, pinning his arms and wrists.

"U-uh…S-Supes…" He could barely find his voice, "My…my legs…I-I don't think I can…"

_'Damn it! Not helping myself here…!'_  
  
"Sssh…" Kal hushed him softly, "…I've got you covered."

His deep whisper…not to mention Batmans face suddenly being in his neck…shooed off any last bit of resistance trying to make its stand.

Still…as the Kryptonians fingers slid coolly under his shirt, he couldn't help gulping loudly…almost wishing it was just cupcake still in his throat.

* * *

Alfred wasn't too far down the hall, having chosen to finish a bit of dusting that was left over from earlier, when a loud cry broke the mundane silence of Wayne Manor.

Of course it had startled him, but it wasn't like yells were exactly new to him. He stood listening for a while, before he turned back to work, feeling assured.

"Poor master Wallace. No mercy it would seem," He mumbled quietly, though a small smile tugged at his mouth.

* * *

Bruce's room was large, but Wallys laughter filled every inch of it.

His stomach and chest were really beginning to ache, and he couldn't even move as every inch of his body was pinned.

"HAHAHAHA…!"

"Well, he's holding out longer than I thought," Bruce taunted, though he did sound a little impressed.

He kept his face in the speedsters neck, pinning his head to the side so he couldn't unintentionally head butt.

"Su…please…HAHAHA…can't…HAHA!"

Clark just grinned wickedly as he sat on Wallys legs, keeping him from kicking as he tickled him mercilessly.

"Are you sorry now?" He spoke oh so casually.

"Ye…HAHA…ye-es!"

"Say it…" Batman cooed into his neck, lightly biting and sucking the skin there.

"I'm so…sorr…HAH…!"

Flash began coughing, his eyes slightly panicked. Though he didn't fully stop tickling the speedster, Kal lightened up the torture enough for him to catch his breath and be able to speak.

"I'm sorry for…HEHE…for being clumsy! HAHA…I'm sorry…for thinking stupid…hehe…stupid teasing thoughts…and I'm sorry for not HAHAHAHA! Not saying anything about my ankle…next time I'll roll around on the ground and cry like a baby with a booboo! HAHAHA…!"

"You'd better…" Supes chuckled, and with one last look to Bruce, he relented.

He placed a feather light kiss on the young man's stomach, before climbing off his legs.

Wallys laughter slowed and grew quieter, though didn't fully diminish. It became fragmented as his body heaved for air. Tears had swollen up in his eyes, and now took the chance to fall.

Finally his breathing began to steady, but even without the tickling his body still shook with giggles, and his chest was aching as he waited for the tears to stop…

…only they didn't.

Wallys silly smile weakened as he actually tried now to calm his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and took deep breathes…

…but his body shocked him by not having a bar of it. He realised that his laughter had changed to sobs, and grabbed his face as the tears stopped being tiny, laughter-induced trickles, and became large, full on water works.

"What the hell…!?" He croaked out.

He almost wished he'd passed out from laughter, this was crazy!

"Just let it come Wally…" Bruce whispered, his face against the younger man's temple.

He finally noticed that Bruce and Clark had shifted to be on either side of him again. They didn't seem at all put off from his crying…not like he was.

Wally admittedly had a very sensitive heart, and with the exception of J'onn, was likely the gentlest of the founders. But he almost never showed how much something hurt him…crying in front of others was NOT something he made a habit of doing.

_'Why now! Why now…?'_ He covered his eyes in shame, still trying to block the tears.

"You pent this up for too long Wally…" Clark spoke gently, yet again as if he knew what he was thinking.

He took his hands in one of his own, giving a small, encouraging tug.

"Hey…" He whispered, pulling the hands away when Wally didn't move them himself, "…no more running, remember?"

"No more hiding, no more fighting…" This time it was Bruce who kissed him, gently on the temple as he joined his hand with theirs.

"No more of this…" Clark turned Wallys averted face up to meet his gaze, before giving a soft chuckle, "…or this."

He brushed his thumb over the speedsters bottom lip, which Wally only now realised he was biting. Looking down at his mouth (or at least trying to), he slowly released his lip.

"Wally…" Bruce wrapped his free arm around his slim waist, "…I may not always prove to have the right to say this, but being part of a serious relationship means trusting your partners enough to be honest about anything. This won't survive if we don't know how you truly feel about us."

"And we WANT this to survive Wally," Kal wrapped his own free arm right around Wally and to Bruce, pulling all three together, "The truth may not always be easy, but you CAN trust us."

"No more fear…not between us, because there's nothing that needs our fear."

Their words sunk deep into him; everyone was meant…there was no feeling of pity or obligation or simple compassion. They'd chased him all day, and sat with him now, because they feared losing him, as much as he…

"Am I…?"

The words croaked out before the full sentence had time to form in his mind.

He took their hands in both of his own, and held them against his chest. His rapid heartbeat hummed faintly against their skin, whilst his tears finally showed mercy as they slowed down. His eyes were darting over the blanket again, but they let him be…he was looking for the right words, not avoiding them.

"Am I…I mean, sometimes I feel…like…"

He breathed in and out deeply, hushing his mind and heart.

"Am I…in the way?"

It was barely a whisper, but both Bruce and Kal heard it.

"Of what…?" Bruce encouraged quietly when he paused.

"Of this…" Wally looked to their hands, where they now noticed how he was holding Clark and Bruces hands together, "…I know you guys wouldn't have accepted me…would never have let me be part of your relationship just to be nice or for the fun of it, you're both way too good for that. It's just, you were…"

He had to pause again. He was doing his best, and though the words were coming so much easier than he'd thought, they felt like they were draining all his recovered strength.

He felt comforting pets over his back and his side; they were trying to make him relax more, but they wouldn't rush him.

"You two were together long before I came into it…before I even realised how I felt. Yeah I knew I kinda had crushes on you both…" a quick blush covered his face as he said that, "…but I thought that's all it was, a double dose of the schoolboy crush. Heh, can you blame me? Supes is so strong and one of the nicest guys alive, and Bats is so cool on the battlefield and seems to know just about everything…not to mention you've gotta be the best looking guys on the planet…"

He breathed out, a good portion of tension going with it; the tears had stopped, but now he looked annoyed at himself.

"Man it seems so shallow to think that now, but that's how I was. I think I must have used the 'it's just a crush' thing as a way to justify not doing anything about it, because I thought I'd just get over it like any other crush I'd ever had. I let myself roll with it because it was fun to imagine being with you both. It seemed harmless at the time since you two weren't together back then, or not that I knew of, plus uuhh…and please don't kill me for saying this, I kinda thought Bruce had something with Diana."

"Oh don't worry, we all did," Kal answered him with a playful tone.

Bruce shot him a warning look, which Kal merely answered with a smirk; the bat frown was rarely effective on him.

"A-anyway…" Wally cleared his throat, grasping at his thoughts before they took the chance to run, "…it didn't really stop, but I didn't think it was getting any stronger, heck I swear it didn't click until…!"

His voice got caught in his throat, his face going full scarlet. The others almost wanted to laugh, but didn't dare.

"Wally?" Bruce started after he paused for too long, "…when did you realise how you felt?"

Wow did the young man ever look embarrassed. He hid his face in his knees, but before they could even try to pull him back, he spoke again.

"Do you remember that time we were helping GL out on a mission in space?"

"Could you give a little more detail?"

"I don't know…we were in some giant space station on a planet with a tone of waterfalls. Sinestro was trying to take control of their transport system or something…"

He heard them both make a sound to acknowledge what he said; they remembered it now.

"Well….you know how Bats said we had to sneak in cause the place was crawling with Sinestro corpsmen, and the plan was to get to Sinestro himself…?"

They waited for him to continue.

"And…when we…ran into each other, in that hall?" He knew he was rambling, but they still didn't say anything, "…then…we had to hide?"

"..."

He looked to them almost desperately, "Oh man…you're really gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

* * *

" _Flash! What're you doing here, Where's Shiera?"_

_"Chill Bats, I'm here because this place is a maze, and Shiera took off to fight some guards whilst I was altering those files you told me to!" Flash hissed defensively._

_"Don't tell me YOU couldn't have done that AND caught up to her."_

_"Hey I'm not afraid to admit that decrypting passwords is something you CAN do faster than me! Besides, you specifically said not to use my speed here, which by the way, is killing m…!"_

_"Hush you two!" Superman interrupted._

_He nodded towards the other end of the hall, where footsteps could be heard._

_"Any word from Wonder Woman and Lantern yet?"_

_"No."_

_"Then we can't break cover yet…hide!"_

_"We're in the middle of a hallway, and sorry Bats, there's no rafters here for you to…"_

_Before Flash could finish his sentence, he found himself being both pulled and shoved to the side. His whole front became squished against a hard wall, and everything went dark as he was crushed from behind as well._

_"What the…!" He began._

_"SSH!" A strong hand pressed over his mouth._

_He realised in shock that the hard wall against his face? It was Supermans chest, and Batmans was pressing against his back._

_They'd squeezed into a small closet, a cosy fit for just one person, let alone three, and Neither Supes nor Bats were exactly slight of build._

_The footsteps in the hall could be heard getting closer, but all Flash could take note of were the almost in audible sounds there in the closet._

_Their breathing was so controlled it was almost silent. Wally wouldn't have known Batman was even breathing if he couldn't feel its hot, harsh presence on his neck (how could he feel it through his uniform!? It wasn't that thin!). The shiver it gave him was actually painful._

_Bats gripped his arms to still him, probably unaware of what he'd done. Supes arms also tightened around him, to the point that he couldn't have moved if he'd tried._

_Now he could both hear and feel Supes heartbeat, slightly elevated considering their situation, but it was as strong as the rest of the man._

_Against his back, he realised he could feel another light, constant thud…_

_…Batmans heartbeat._

_'Wow, Bats actually has a heart in there…?'_

_The harsh mental slap hurt far worse than being almost crushed by his friends; Of course Batman had a heart! And even if only a joke, that had been nasty of him to think._

_Was one of them wearing cologne? Surely not on the job…well, not this job…hey, was Supes rubbing his arm? Oh shoot! He was still shivering, the man must've thought he was scared….wait, why WAS he shivering? And what the HECK was that he could feel behind him!? Ok he knew…but hey, no harm in hoping otherwise…right?_

_The footsteps finally registered as they stopped right outside of the closet. NOW Wally felt a surge of panic; if they were found there, none of them were exactly in the position to defend themselves. It would take a minute to unwind, and not a second for Sinestro corpsmen to attack them._

_They were talking, but it was difficult to hear. Wallys eyes were locked to the door, knowing it was only the push of a button away from revealing them, yet knowing all this, he didn't feel as worried as he should've…_

_…at least not about getting caught by their enemies._

_His heart was speeding, and there was a silent screaming in his head, but not because of the danger, no, it was due to becoming a Flash sandwich between the head honchos of the league inside a broom closet on a space station full of enemies…!_

_…yeah, he really saw THAT happening when he agreed to go on this mission!_

_'Too hot…'_

_Batmans breathe was too hot on his neck, and Superman was radiating heat, there was no air in there…_

_…he was hyper aware of everything; the sound of Supes uniform shifting beneath Wallys clenching fingers (about the only thing he COULD move), their personal body odours…both so strong, but not necessarily unpleasant…mixing so he couldn't tell whose was whose._

_Batman was still gripping his arm, but he could feel an underlying strength below the already firm grip; painful as it already was, he knew he was feeling nothing against the Dark Knights true strength._

_Funny…he couldn't tell if that scared him, or made him…happy?_

_'Ok, brain…body…WHAT. THE. HELL!?'_

_He wasn't completely naïve; he'd figured out long ago that he had a crush on BOTH the brains and brawn of the Justice League, and maybe later he'd lock himself in his room, shut off any security cameras, and have a squealy fan boy moment to himself (no way was ANYONE going to see him do that!), this was after all what would be considered the ideal, dream situation for anyone with a crush, right?_

_It couldn't be…or he'd be blushing and trying to keep a victorious grin out of sight._

_Instead he found himself breathing hard (not that Supes hand over his mouth was helping), his body in some weird, instinctive struggle between pulling away and curling up tighter._

_'Calm down…gotta calm down…this'll be over soon, just as soon as the bad guys mo…oh damn it Bats! Will you stop shifting!? I thought you were supposed to be good at playing statues!'_

_"Their leaving…" Supes sudden whisper sent another giant shock up his spine._

_He realised he couldn't hear anyone outside, and if they sounded far away to Supes, then that practically spelt out a big fat "clear"._

_He was somehow crushed even more against the man of steel as Batman reached back to the door, before with a 'whoosh', light burst into the opening, and the heat and pressure were sucked away from Wally as he stumbled backwards._

_Air rushed back to him as he hunched over in the hallway. Being able to breathe again was brilliant, but now he felt almost uncontrollably cold in the empty air around him._

_'Empty? Why…?'_

_"Flash!" Batman hissed, "Stop daydreaming and let's move!"_

_He looked up to the Dark Knight, still sucking in air in an almost desperate fashion._

_"Hey, you alright?" Superman asked with a bit more concern._

_He touched Flash's shoulder, looking confused when his friend flinched away._

_"Uh…yeah yeah, all good…!" The stupid grin was automatic, but Wally rolled with it, "…just seriously stuffy in there!" He laughed a bit, "…soooo, where to next? We better go!"_

_He rushed passed Bats down the hall, only to hear an annoyed "Other way!" behind him. He rushed back, and stood sheepishly beneath Batmans harsh gaze._

_When he thought he'd burned him with his eyes enough, Bats turned and led the way, Supes right behind him, and Flash understandably a bit further behind._

_He fought with himself not to look back at the closet, yet he also struggled to keep his gaze ahead…_

_…oh well, he supposed his feet were pretty interesting for the time being._

* * *

The suddenness startled him a little, but Wally wasn't surprised in the slightest by the laughter that broke out either side of him.

"So that's why you were keeping your distance for weeks afterwards?"

It seemed weird that Bats sounded more relieved or amused to hear that, rather than upset in some way. Wally didn't look at him, and just pouted.

"…Figured I wasn't so subtle about it…"

"Ah," Clark snapped his fingers, "It also explains that time you flipped out with the sandwich."

"The what?"

"Remember? It was only a few days after that mission, we were all having lunch together. You made yourself a giant sandwich, and John decided to tease you by saying it looked pretty small for a Flash sandwich."

"You dropped the whole thing and stood there with your mouth gapping," Now Bruce remembered.

So did Wally, and if his face got any warmer, he was certain his whole head would burst into flames.

_'Heh…move over Firestorm?'_

"Yeah yeah, I remember you telling me not to over fill the sandwich next time, even though I'd hardly have called that overfilled for me."

"If you can't fit your hands around it, it's too much," Bruce just countered.

He rested his face lightly into Wallys neck, his grin growing as he caused a large shiver.

"C-come on guys, I swear I'm a beetroot already!" He couldn't stop his voice shaking as his cheeks ignited…or so it felt.

"Not quite," Kal teased, and placed a kiss to the edge of his ear.

Well that did it; after gasping from surprise, Wally shuffled around quickly, and pulled the blanket over himself, his head hidden under a pillow.

Clark and Bruce smirked to each other, raising an eyebrow.

"Still hungry?" Clark grinned.

"Not for anything corny," Bruce almost rolled his eyes.

They slipped under the blanket, and the next thing Wally knew, hands were gliding over his body in all directions. He gave a muffled yelp and tried to squirm away, but there was nowhere to go.

"You're not getting away this time," Bruce growled playfully into his neck.

Sheesh, the speedster made a note to ask if Bruce had a thing for his neck…apparently he couldn't keep out of it!

Wally held the pillow over his face, but he was making it hard for himself to breathe, and Bruce was creeping up to his chin.

"Stop playing hard to get, just give up."

"Uuummm…nope!"

Wally managed to wriggle around so he was laying on his stomach, his face down.

But Bruce didn't back off. Instead he leaned over Wally and attached himself to the back of his neck and shoulders.

It was Clark though, who caused the next yelp.

"CLARK!" Wally sat up so quickly he almost had his first head rush.

His back was to the head rest, pillow strangled against his chest.

He could still feel where the man of steel had gently squeezed his backside.

Kal just smiled softly at him as he sat back up.

"Wally, if you don't want 'this', then we'll never force you. But you don't need to be scared."

"I…I know…I just…"

"You're just nervous."

Wally looked to Bruce, but kept the top of the pillow over his mouth.

"We told you that being in a relationship means being honest with each other. It also means learning about each other. You were able to recognise both when we were under control, and when we weren't, and all you did was listen and look. When Clarks birthday came last, you handed him a bottle of his favourite cologne when he'd never mentioned it in front of anyone."

"How _did_ you know that?"

"Uuhh…well…space mission…closet…couldn't smell much else."

"You wore cologne on a mission?" Bruce looked to Kal.

"Possibly, how am I supposed to remember that one?" Kal frowned, "Besides, Batman has turned up at the watch tower smelling like Bruce Wayne more than once."

"You tell Bruce Wayne and Batman apart by smell?" Wally blinked.

"It's not something I can always help," Kal chuckled, "Just like I can pick your heart beat from others, and like you tend to learn by watching."

"…no I don't."

"Oh? More than once when Bruce tried to skip eating during monitor duty, you remembered what food he likes and took it to him. I can tell you that straight up asking him never works, yet you knew somehow. When Bruce and I got into that nasty argument awhile back, you knew it was best to give us both our space. All you did was give us both a hug, and then let us be the rest of the day until we'd calmed down. You even told the others not to bother us unless absolutely necessary, despite Diana and Shieras attempts to help. You've learnt more than you realise."

"You mean like the way you two just love to tease me?" Wallys grumble was only half hearted.

"Very good, we do indeed," Kal grinned and shuffled closer, "As for you…you get highly emotional when you're hungry. You laugh things off easily in front of others, but in reality you stew over them, often longer than you should. You wouldn't say it out loud, but you actually enjoy a bit of playful tickling. In excess though, you hate it."

"You also have a bad habit of talking with your mouth full, though you usually catch yourself up on it pretty quickly. You love sweets and junk food, but your diet is generally very healthy, albeit suited to sustain your energy needs. Against Grodd, you trusted that I would notice the markings on the disks, and for all your flirting and teasing, you turn extremely shy when things get more intimate."

"Hey I can't help it, I just…!"

"Who said we mind?"

Wally blinked in surprise.

"We love you how you are Wally, for all your goofing off as well as your kindness. Things were uncertain and confusing at first, but I use the word love exactly how it's intended and perceived. We BOTH feel that way, and the fact that you've learned so much about us in return, and were willing to fight and risk so much because you trusted us, well…"

Bruce cupped Wallys face, and passed him a rare, genuine smile.

"…is it really a question how you feel?"

Wally looked between them slowly. His face didn't change colour, but his shaking was stopping, and his expression calming.

"Damn it…" He lowered the pillow and couldn't help a small grin, "…smooth talker…"

Bruce chuckled and smirked, and took the offered lips. He kissed him gently first, then took the back of his head and carefully shifted him to lay back down. He kept their mouths sealed as he kissed deeper.

Damn he was a good kisser; Wally felt so dumb just to think it, but oh heck!

He felt Clarks lips grace his neck, before they travelled right down his body. He couldn't help flinching when he felt his pants being shifted, but Bruce gently squeezed his arm, whilst Kal did the same to his hips.

Just the ounce of comfort from both of them, was enough to let him relax into the trust he knew he had in his boyfriends…

_'Hehe…wonder how they'd feel about the word boyfriends out loud?'_

Hmmmm…..nope, he wouldn't take that risk just yet.

"Hey….guys…?" He moaned softly as he broke away.

"Hmm?" They answered together.

"…Who does all that laundry on the watch tower? The staff?"

Clark chuckled as he looked up at the speedster.

"Well that's a random one, even for you."

"I know," Wally smiled softly, shyly raising a hand to touch Clarks hair, the other instinctively going to wrap over Bruces shoulder, "So, do they…?"

Bruce and Clark looked to each other, and Wally wasn't sure what to think of the small smirk they shared.

"Sort of," The Dark Knight answered in that tone that meant he knew something he thought funny…which usually meant something that someone else found anything BUT hilarious.

* * *

"Why the HECK are we doing this again!?" Hawk yelled in frustration, holding someone's dirty shirt away from himself.

"Because unless you want Batman coming down on us again, you'll get on with it!" Elongated man answered as he shoved a load of washing into a machine, "And where's that brother of yours?"

"Batman and Superman said he was forbidden from helping us. In fact, he was sent straight home and told to rest, who knows why."

"He was in that inspection room longer than most. Did anyone ever find out what they were doing?" Booster Gold asked as he worked.

He glanced to laundry in his hands, and freaked, throwing the glitzy red underwear he'd picked up across the room.

"Eew!" Eman stretched his limb to swat it away…

…only for it to land straight on Hawks head.

"AWW GROSS!" Hawk yelled and flung it away.

He literally growled as he turned to Eman and jumped at him.

Skeets quietly suggested a quick retreat to Booster. The fighter from the future DID almost make it to the exit, before he was promptly dragged into the brawl by Eman.

Oh well, it was worth the try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, could I resist that part at the end? NOPE! XD Sorry boys, but that was in the making since the beginning...well, just about anyway :P You were just the unlucky ones chosen for the role.
> 
> So, heads up, the next chapter will be another short one, and it will be the last official chapter of the story...however, I'm planning to add another couple of chapters afterwards that will be extras, mostly short scenes or flashbacks that were mentioned within the main story. One will be a continuation of the scene between Supes, Bats and Flash at the end there ;P...i.e it will be a yaoi scene...I descided to do it separate so that readers would have the choice of reading it, rather than it being necessary to get through the rest of the story...I'll give a clear warning when this is posted.
> 
> These parts however are still being written, so sadly they'll take longer than I like to think, but bit by bit they will be uploaded.
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of adding a short side story for this fanfic I wrote ages ago for a writing challenge...we'll see.
> 
> As always, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


	6. Let the Games Begin...Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I know it's been a while since my last update, sorry for that everyone, I'm moving house soon, so I've had a lot on my mind, and again, I think I needed a break.
> 
> I want to thank everyone who's read, commented etc. this story, it really means so much to me.
> 
> This is the shortest chapter of the lot, but I hope it's worth it :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot line of this fan fiction.

"You awake…?"  
  
  "You know I am."  
  
"Even for me it's hard to tell with you."   
  
"What's on your mind?"  
  
Clark sighed lightly, brushing his fingers through Wallys flame locks as the younger male slept against his chest.  
  
"…We _didn't_ rush him into this, did we?" He met Bruces gaze, "I know all three of us agreed, but sometimes I worry he tries to push himself past what he's ready for…even if he thinks he's ready."  
  
"He does. And that's not likely to change even if we point it out to him."  
  
"It's funny. You'd think having been his age, we'd understand how he feels and thinks."  
  
"We understand what we need to know. The rest is up to him to tell us."  
  
"To think, all this time he's been worried we didn't want him…" Supes looked to Bats, an apology in his eyes, "…Bruce, I _was_ perfectly happy when it was just us, but since he came into this relationship, I now just feel like…"  
  
"…Like it wouldn't work without him?" Bruce finished for him, "You don't have to explain yourself Clark, I feel the same. When he first joined us, I wasn't sure it would work; I questioned the decision even though we'd spent literally hours discussing it. Now? Now I don't WANT him with anyone else. If he's not in my arms, then he'd better be in yours, where he feels the safest."   
  
"He feels safest when he's with us both Bruce," Clark half scolded, "That's what this whole thing has been about, that he wanted to be with both of us, but thought he was in the wrong for feeling that way. He may automatically curl up into my chest, but knowing you're right there, that you have his back…that you shield him from things he himself doesn't see…that's what truly puts him at comfort. Go on, I dare you to even try moving your arm."  
  
Bruce looked to the arm he had wrapped around Wallys waist. The smaller males hand was resting upon it only lightly, but when Bruce slightly pulled back, he whined in his sleep and gripped the arm. Bruce knew he could've easily drawn his arm away, but instead he only smiled and returned his hold, instantly making Wally relax once more.  
  
"He didn't necessarily fill any gap in our relationship. More, he just made it stronger."  
  
"You're right," Clark kissed Wally upon the forehead, before reaching over to run his hand over Bruces arm, "I just didn't want you to think my feelings for you had diminished at all."  
  
Bruce gave a playful smirk.  
  
"As I said, this has only gotten stronger."  
  
Clark returned the smirk. He ran his hand over Bruces arm and shoulder a bit longer, before carefully climbing over Wally.  
  
Bruce let go off the red head, earning a small whine but nothing else as he left a small kiss on his shoulder.  
  
Clark straddled Bruce, knowing the dark knight could take his weight. Sure he always had to be careful with his strength, but it made him happy that Bruce was more likely to get cross with him if he held back too much rather than too little.   
  
They both knew what is was they loved so much about Wally, what it was he brought to their relationship; his sweet, playful, affectionate nature.  
  
Clark was compassionate and caring, and Bruce had one of the most loving hearts possible, but neither were brilliant at openly showing their feelings. Where Bruce would get defensive, Clark would feel bashful.  
  
With Wally, there was none of that; Why, if he felt like running up behind Batman and grabbing a quick hug, he would. Heck, he'd stolen a kiss on the cheek from Supes more than once whilst on duty. Sure a lot of the time he was just being cheeky and teasing, but they'd known each show of affection was real. That's why he'd been respectful enough of their feelings not to tease them in front of anyone…he'd made sure they were alone, and if they weren't? His speed let him do what he wanted the second everyone else turned their attention away.  
  
Wally easily brought out their gentle, protective sides, whilst Bruce and Clark…best friends and occasional rivals…could understand and match each other's more…dominant sides.  
  
"If you dare flip my bed again…" Bruce suddenly warned, his hand going over Clarks mouth before he could kiss him.  
  
"Hey, there's no cheeky speedster trying to hide under there right now…" Supes laughed, brushing the hand away as he lowered closer to Bruce.  
  
"He'll be scolded for that later…" Bruce still frowned, "…as for you, try it again, and you get to explain to Alfred how it's possible to get such large dents in an ironbark floor."  
  
"Now wouldn't _that_ be a cruel and unusual punishment," Supes just laughed again.  
  
Bruce grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down into a firm kiss, which the man of steel quickly returned.  
  
Yes, they didn't regret it in the slightest having Wally as a more submissive partner with whom they could have a slower, gentler and more romantic physical relationship…it had surprised them both how much they loved it…  
  
…still, with their alpha male personalities, they both also found it equally wonderful to have someone who enjoyed the fiercer, more passionate side of things.  
  
As they continued their competitive little bout, Wally opened his eyes, and glanced over his shoulder carefully.  
  
 _'Thanks for trying to be quiet guys, but who needs super hearing for a conversation right above their head?'_ He smiled warmly as he just listened to them for a moment.  
  
Part of him urged to roll over and hug them both, thankful and relieved that he had found a place with them. But he wouldn't give into that desire for anything. Whatever uncertainties he had about his feelings, he loved them both enough not to interrupt right now.  
  
He didn't have to be scared anymore of being a third wheel, he knew that.  
  
This relationship was perhaps a bit odd, but it could and would work, for all of them.  
  
Before he curled back up to sleep, he shifted over a bit more than a foot, not to get away from them, but just so they had more room…less they get carried away and roll over on top of him…again.  
  
Yes, again. This wasn't the first time they'd…uh, competed…when he was sleeping, and he'd learnt the hard way that they could forget EVERYTHING around them at times.  
  
He'd made his tongue bleed from biting it the first time he'd heard them roll off the bed…  
  
…their loud, surprised cursing had given him side cracking giggle fits for days!  
  
It was certainly a lot funnier than the time they'd rolled in the other direction…sure he'd decided that being a Flash sandwich was pretty nice…but a Flash Pancake? NO THANK YOU!  
  


* * *

"Well, our day off was nice while it lasted. Have all those disks been found yet?" Shiera stretched as she entered the control room.  
  
"Three more were found on those on Earth at the time, but it looks like we're about in the clear now," GL answered her.  
  
"Not that anyone's to blame, but it's unacceptable how far Grodd was able to infiltrate, both in the staff AND Justice League members. We need to put focus on security as much as possible for a while," Wonder Woman joined them.  
  
"And that's what today's going to be all about," John groaned as he looked to the work station, "I see a large headache coming along. Thankfully the rest of the schedule doesn't look too full today."  
  
"We should have a meeting with the other members as soon as possible to address the situation. Many are still confused about the inspections," J'onn spoke up.  
  
"That's item number one on the list, just as soon as Batman, Superman and the Flash arrive," GL replied.  
  
On cue, a stream of red energy burst into the room.  
  
"Speak of the devil and he shale appear!" Flash grinned widely as he leant on GL's shoulder.  
  
"Good morning Flash. Are the others with you?" Diana greeted.  
  
"They're close behind…" Flash replied casually.  
  
However, they were all familiar with that sneaky tone of his…   
  
"FLASH!"  
  
Everyone looked in the direction of the yell, before looking back to Wally. This time, his grin grew even as it turned nervous, as if to say 'uh oh'.   
  
"Did I hear something about a meeting? Let me know when it's about to begin!" He almost laughed and went to dash away.  
  
"Flash," Shiera grabbed his arm, "…are they teasing you again?"  
  
She was surprised when he just beamed joyfully at her.  
  
"Nope, I completely deserve it this time!"  
  
He gave a quick salute and raced out of the room. Moments later, the man of steel and the dark knight entered from the other side of the room, BOTH looking livid.  
  
It was quickly clear why, and despite the situation, it left the rest of them struggling not to laugh.  
  
"Where is he?" Kal tried to keep his control.  
  
"You just missed him," Shiera didn't do well to keep the chuckle out of her voice as she stared at the large bat symbol sewn in place of the usual symbol on his chest.  
  
Likewise, Batmans symbol was covered by the familiar mark of hope that belonged to the man of steel.  
  
"Well if nothing else, I have to commend Flash's stitching," Diana grinned.  
  
"We don't have time for Flashes antics right now," John cleared his throat, trying to regain his composer, "We were just trying to arrange a meeting for all staff and league members today."  
  
"Good plan, get everyone to gather in the main hall. We'll meet you there in ten minutes," Superman nodded quickly and turned away.  
  
"Superman? Where are yo…" John began, but cut off quickly.  
  
"Hey," Shiera caught their attention, "…when you find him? Give him a slap over the head for me, ok?" she smiled playfully.  
  
"You might want to trust Superman to do that more than me right now," Batman crossed his arms.  
  
"As ironic as that sounds, I actually think I agree," she laughed.  
  
Clark and Bruce left them there, but just a few metres down the hall, their communicators clicked on.  
  
 _"You know, if you guys just pulled at them, they'd come off. The stitching is super loose; it won't tear your uniforms."_ Flash sounded maybe just an ounce smug, but mostly just playful.  
  
Kal and Bruce frowned, but played along and tore the symbols off…with surprising ease as he'd said.  
  
On the underside that had been against the material, they found the same message;   
  
_'I'm sorry, but you guys **did** kick me more than once last night. Love you.'_   
  
Kal looked to the little love heart he'd written at the end of the message, and sighed deeply with a small smirk.   
  
"I'm sorry if we did that again, we _should_ take more notice, but that's not getting you out of trouble."  
  
_"Yeah, I know,"_ The smile could be heard in Flashes voice, though he clearly understood and accepted that he was indeed in trouble, _"And don't worry, it didn't hurt that much, you just interrupted a really good dream about cake."_   
  
"Cake? Honestly Wally?"   
  
_"Yep, and it was damn good cake to! I'll talk to you guys after the meeting?"_   
  
"Yes, we'll talk," Batman assured him, "But when we decide."  
  
 _"Huh? When you decide? So…not after the meeting?"_   
  
"No, not after the meeting."  
  
_"Well, when then?"_   
  
"When…we…decide," Bruces voice was slow and dangerous, but he was smirking as he spoke.  
  
_"What? Oh come on Bats, that's not…!"_   
  
Batman turned off his communicator before Wally could finish.  
  
"You are truly wicked sometimes," Kal smirked, "I'm sure he doesn't deserve to be left on the edge of his seat all day."  
  
"You are no more innocent than I am when it comes to harmlessly torturing him."  
  
Kal just shook his head and looked back to the note. He glanced to Bruce who was still watching him, and the Dark Knights look changed to a frown.   
  
"It's NOT cute."  
  
"You think it's cute, and you can't fool me otherwise," Kal just countered, and turned to walk with him back to the main hall.  
  
"If you let him off easy for this…"  
  
"Oh he's not getting off easy for anything. He still went and sewed holes through my uniform after all..." Clark touched Bruces shoulder, and offered a warm smile, "…meeting first, then we'll discuss his punishment."   
  
Bruce held his gaze for a moment, before he seemed to relax and nodded. "As long as he gets more than a mere tickling."  
  
"Oh, so much more."   
  
They looked to each other once more, and shared a wicked grin, before continuing on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it folks :)
> 
> I've had so much fun writing this story, although I enjoy fan fic writing in general, this was definitely one of the most fun stories I've written :)
> 
> This story became so much bigger and deeper than I originally intended...and I love it for that XD I really hope all of you did as well.
> 
> Thank you once again to everyone for following this story, justice league plushies and cookies for you all! ^_^
> 
> So...whilst this chapter is the last official chapter of the story itself, I intend in the future to add a few extra chapters of parts mentioned in the story but not seen...including the continuation of Bruce, Clark and Wallys night together from the last chapter ;P ( there will be a good warning for this one for anyone who doesn't want to read it).
> 
> However, those parts are still well in draft mode, so they won't be ready for a good while, I hope they'll be worth the wait as well.
> 
> Thank you again everyone!


	7. (Bonus) Trust, Fun and Silly Quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally it's done! Dang...that took so long, but through a lot of fun and a heck of a lot of blushing, this bonus chapter is done! It's been a hectic time for me the last few months, plus this chapter turned out soooo much longer than expected...haha! I was only expecting it to be a few pages long...whoops, should've known better :P
> 
> WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING...!
> 
> How's that for a warning? XP This story has just been updated from T rating to M rating because of this chapter...this IS a yaoi/shonenai/boy love story and this chapter DOES go all the way, so if you don't wish to read that part of this story, then I'd give this chapter a miss...it was specially added as a bonus chapter rather than a main chapter for a reason...This is the continuation of Bruce, Clark and Wallys time together at the end of chapter 5, but before the beginning of chapter 6 (in other words the part where "everything" happens)...
> 
> In saying that, I'm a bit new to writing full on lemon scenes, so I really hope this is alright and worth the read...please don't be too hard on me... ^_^' Please enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot line for this fanfiction.

Wally broke free from a kiss for air, and Bruce instantly returned to his neck, causing him to moan between inhaling.

He really wanted to make a joke about Bruces apparent neck obsession…buuuut…Kals actions down below were making it a little hard to think of anything good.

Bruce ran a hand under his shirt, before he pushed the material up.

_'I should do something…'_ Wally almost couldn't even think.

As though he'd spoken aloud, his wrists were suddenly taking in a firm grip and held against the mattress. He met Bruces gaze, just to be greeted by a smirk, something he didn't have to wait long to understand…

He gasped loudly and arched up as Bruce took one of his buds between his lips, sucking only lightly, but Wally quickly caught onto his game.

"Not gonna say it Bats…" His voice was starting to shake.

' _Ain't no way you're making me beg for it bats, ain't no!…uh oh…'_

As Bruce looked back to him, he realised THAT had been a mistake to say, as the dark knights expression clearly read _'challenge accepted'_.

The speedster bit his lip as the sucking intensified, whilst he felt Kal push his leg up to lick the underside of his thigh.

'… _where did my pants go...?'_

He'd felt Kal slowly pulling them down, but he would've sworn they were still there…uuh, somewhere…

"C-Clark…"

"Oh? Do you like it there?"

"It…it's embarrassing…"

"Why?" Kal began kissing little trails up and down his skin.

"Cause it is. You're doing that… _there_ …"

"Your body is your body Wally; there are no good parts or bad parts, just one whole beautiful body…that just happens to be a little extra sensitive in certain places."

"Bruce…"

"What, the truth not helping?"

"Noooope."

"Well then…Clark?"

Bruce pulled back, whilst Wally gave a loud yelp as he was flipped over like he was nothing but a feather.

Well…to Clark, that's probably exactly what he felt like.

"H-hey!"

His shirt was pushed the full way off, and as his underwear joined it on the floor, Wally suddenly gripped the blanket with an iron force, refusing to turn over again.

Now he was stuck; this wasn't the first time they'd seen him without his shirt or even his pants…but he'd certainly never gone full monty in front of them.

His burning face wouldn't let him move, but he was biting his lip again as Bruce massaged from his neck to his waist, whilst Clark did the same to his hips and below.

"Come on, you'll never enjoy it if you don't relax," Bruce tried to pry his hand from the blanket.

The result ended up as Clark having a good laugh at Bruces stunned face when even he couldn't move Wallys hand an inch.

"Come on Wally…"

"Nuh uh! This is so not fair!"

"How is it unfair?"

The massage stopped as Wally pushed up on his elbows to pout at Bruce.

The dark knight only had a moment to register his cheeky grin, before the speedster was zipping around the room, and though he felt a few quick touches…and found himself suddenly on his back… it was well and truly done before he could tell what had happened.

He couldn't tell if he was surprised or not to find Clark and himself stark naked.

" _Now_ it's fair."

They turned to find Wally kneeling at the end of the bed, resting his face on his arms as he gave them that false innocence once more.

"Well good to know someone found his spark again," Kal smirked.

The second he shifted though, Wally grinned devilishly, and threw the end of the blanket up over their heads.

They wrestled it off, less amused this time, and of course found Flash M.I.A.

"So now we're playing where's Wally?" Bruce half groaned.

"Found him," Clark chuckled and indicated to under the bed.

"Tatter tale!"

Clark would've grinned at the complaint, but instead gave a short, sharp sound of surprise. He glared to the edge of the bed, hand on his backside.

The little sneak could be heard trying not to laugh below them.

"Seems he found your weakness," Bruce taunted.

"You _know_ what my weak point is…just as I know yours," Clark retorted, smirking when Bruce lost his own.

"You wouldn't try it."

"You know I would, and probably will. But, it's not your turn…"

Clark got off the bed and looked underneath, where Wally gave a playful poke of his tongue.

Drats, the gap was definitely too tight for him to go under.

"What's up Supes? Not always so great to have such big muscles?" Wally teased.

"You think so do you?" Clark raised an eyebrow almost evilly.

He stood back up so Wally could only see his feet, but the speedsters playful grin melted away when he saw a hand grip the underside of the bed.

"Oh…right…strongest man alive…"

"Clark! Don't you dar…!" Bruce began, only to be cut off when the bed gave a lurch, and was flipped onto its side, sending the boy billionaire crashing to the floor.

Of course he could do very little as red and blue raced around his room, but thankfully it didn't last long at all as a soft knock at the door cut the chase short.

"Master Bruce? Is everything alright in there sir?"

"Everything's fine Alfred, Clark just fell off the bed again."

"Sorry about that Alfred," Clark called from where he stood with Wally held clean off the ground…in no more than one arm of course…

' _Show off…'_

"Very well, I'll be on call should you require anything."

"Thank you Alfred."

They gave it a few more seconds for him to leave.

"Clark," Bruce growled in a tone deadly enough that Wally wasn't the only one to flinch, "Put my bed back how it was, and then BOTH of you get your asses on it!"

"Sir yes sir?" Wally mumbled nervously.

He yelped sharply and glared over his shoulder as Clark took the chance to pinch him back.

The Kryptonian just grinned and lifted from the ground. With his spare hand, he carefully eased the bed back to its original position, before lowering them both onto the middle of it.

His butt barely hit the blanket before Wally felt strong hands clamp around his shoulders.

"Mine!"

Bruces eyes looked like that of a predator.

"Eep…"

That was all Wally could manage as he was pulled from Kals hold, and found himself on his back again. He couldn't help laughing as Bruces lips briefly grazed his stomach, before they moved lower, and he clamped his hands over his mouth to stop a cry of shock.

"Hey hey, it's ok…" Kal came to hover over him again.

He stroked the soft red hair, before gently easing Wallys hands off his mouth, just as the young man gave a loud groan.

Not wanting him to get too flustered again, Kal lowered down to kiss him.

Clarks kiss was quite different to Bruces…Wally was starting to understand what he'd meant about not always being able to help noticing differences.

The man of steels kiss was softer, not as deep but in no way half hearted. It was kind of like a big warm hug.

Bruce on the other hand, had a dominant hint to his, not at all unpleasant, but you knew exactly who was leading that kiss.

The thing they had in common? Wally absolutely loved both versions.

The speedster raised an arm and wrapped it around Clarks shoulders, his fingers creeping into the hair on the back of his neck. As he broke away for air, his free hand searched below until it found Bruces head, and held onto his hair.

' _Too hot…'_

Bruces mouth…it was so damn hot around his…

GAH! Just thinking it made the feeling course through his groin and abdomen even fiercer!

Kal was nipping his collar bone and caressing his buds. Part of him wanted to jump away, whilst the other half desperately wanted every little bit of it.

They weren't the first men he'd ever liked or dated, but he'd never gone nearly so far with any other; Bruce had been right…as soon as the possibility had been brought up, he'd found himself shying away.

"AAH!" His grip tightened harshly as Bruce began caressing his scrotum at the same time.

He couldn't hold on! He couldn't…!

As Clark sucked that sensitive spot behind his ear, Wally lost it. He arched right up off the bed, his grip on the other two returning to that iron force. He cried out a little, but for the most of it, his voice got caught in his throat.

It lasted longer than he'd have thought, but when it was over, his body wanted to flop back and not move an inch. Instead though, he curled up into the others, not letting go.

"Wally…" Bruce only pulled away enough to look at him, "…was that your first…?"

His voice wasn't mocking, but honest concern.

"First…" Wally gulped for air, "…first time…someone else has made me do it," He admitted in a mumble.

His gaze fell sharply, but he quickly felt them both embracing him.

"I'm sorry…" Wally stared up in surprise at Bruces apologetic smile, "…I would've been a bit gentler if I'd realised."

"No," Wally shook his head, "I-it was good! Really, all of it."

He passed a shy but assuring smile to both of them.

"It…was really nice, I liked it."

He gave a goofy grin, before breathing out heavily as his body slouched. He put up no resistance as they lowered him to the bed, in fact, he couldn't help a small smile at the comfort of the pillow.

Bruce and Clark both smiled down at him, before they sat up and turned to each other.

Whether it was their intention or not…and it probably was…Wally almost squeaked as the two quite literally started making out right in front of him.

He'd been in the same room when they'd done this before, but he'd never actually watched. Thus, his first reaction was to close his eyes. After a moment though, he slowly peeked them back open.

He didn't need to be shy; if they hadn't wanted him to see, they would've waited for him to look away. Instead, they seemed to be making quite a show of it, grinding so hard against each other, and kissing so fiercely that it looked like it would hurt as much as a punch.

Oh man, one second he couldn't watch, the next he found himself staring.

' _It's not perving if they're my boyfriends…right?'_

He knew they were intending for him to watch, but Wally was already recovering, and slowly dragged himself to his knees.

Bruce and Clark broke apart for air, but paused as they felt a hand on each of their hips. They watched as Wally…gently blushing…focused on their waists.

Understanding, they put a bit of space between their bodies, moving carefully so as not to startle him.

Nervously, Wally took hold of their erections, and moved his hands over them.

Clark and Bruce had already figured that he was new to this part as well, but despite his nerves his actions were barely hesitant. Each placed a hand on his back, and the other around each other, as they returned to their kissing duel.

Wally took a while to build his confidence, but soon he found a good rhythm, and just an ounce of his usual playfulness.

He kissed the tip of Batmans length, and though the flinch he felt was minor, it left him internally grinning.

A small gulp, and his lips parted to take in Bruces length, not quite half way at first, but before his nerves could try and take over, he pushed his mouth on further, careful not to gag himself.

There was a deep inhale from Bruce as he pulled away from Clark, who took the chance to nip the dark knight along the collar bone.

The sharp hiss from above made Wally freeze and stare up.

"Not you…" Bruce petted his hair reassuringly, all the while glaring down Clark.

Unsure, Wally returned to his actions, all too aware of the tension building above him.

"Don't give me that look. You knew I would," Kal taunted.

"And you know you shouldn't have."

Why? Because now you'll try for mine? Perhaps I want you to."

"Don't even try that; You remember what happened the last time you called my bluff."

"You nearly ended up with a broken nose from making me jump?"

"It was worth hearing you squeal like a girl."

Wally sensed it coming, but couldn't move from where he was.

Clark and Bruce both growled and pulled the other closer, wrestling where they knelt, all the while forgetting that Wally was between them.

The speedster had no time to be thinking of jokes as he was crushed again, and Bruces length went the full way into his mouth, hitting him hard in the back of the throat.

Panicking, he wriggled his arms free and tried slapping them both on the hips, but when that failed, he pinched them both VERY hard on the ass.

Both flinched and pulled away, but their sudden annoyance didn't last a single second when they looked down to him, and Bruce immediately pulled back.

Wally used his arms to support himself as he dry retched and coughed.

Damn that had been really painful!

"Wally, I…" Bruce started, but even he didn't know what to say.

Kal looked to the dark knight, trying to give him some silent comfort and support as he gently rubbed Wallys back.

"Don…don't do that…again…" Wally panted.

He glared up at them both, but seeing their regretful looks, he quickly beat down his anger, a bit ashamed.

"Just…please don't do that again…" He pouted slightly and crossed his arms, but his partners could see he wasn't really angry, he'd just gotten scared.

"I'm sorry Wally, that was stupid of us…" Bruce cupped the side of his face.

"No it wasn't…" Wally mumbled as he leant into the touch.

"Yes it was."

"Not stupid Bruce!" This time Wally almost growled, but his voice quickly lowered again, "…careless…not stupid…no beating yourself up, or I'll pinch you again."

It was hard to sound firm or stay focused; the way Bruce held his face and his arm…Wally could feel such a tenderness one would never expect from Bruce. Talk about putty in the hands, It was wonderful, but when he suddenly realised Bruce was trying to encourage him to lay back again, he sat right up.

" I didn't say I didn't want to do _that_ again! Besides, I wasn't done."

Bruce and Clark both stared dumbfounded as he gave that serious, contemplating look that had previously spelt trouble for Grodd and the rouges.

"…lie down."

"Wally?"

"You heard me. Both of you, on your backs and hold onto the head board," Wally sounded almost as commanding as Batman usually did, "…you're not allowed to let go until I say so, got it!?"

Though thoroughly stunned, the other two gave playful expressions, and did as he'd ordered. Once they were holding on securely, Wally shuffled into the narrow gap between their bodies, and took hold of their lengths again.

His courage wavering for just a moment, he began moving his hands once again, finding his rhythm fairly quickly this time.

Clark gave a soft sound of pleasure, his hips shifting a bit, though he was sure not to move too much. Bruce was still, but his eyes were closed and his attention apparently just on the sensation.

Wanting to do the same that they'd done for him, Wally gripped Bruce firmer, whilst he leant down to lick the tip of Kals erection. He gave his ego just a small pat when Bruce gave a deep groan, and Kals hips bucked a bit. He continued rubbing Bruce up and down with the firmer stroke, swiping his thumb over the tip each time, whilst he took Kals length partly in his mouth. He experimented with his tongue, moving it over the foreign skin.

He knew everything he was doing was no doubt rather amateurish, but the sounds from the men beneath assured him that they were enjoying it none the less.

He'd never thought that doing this could feel so…hot. He kept the touches up as he thought what to do next. He slowly slipped his lips off of Kal, breathing out slowly over his tip, and couldn't help a small grin when the man of steel actually shivered beneath him.

' _I just made the man of steel shiver…I actually made THE Kal'El of Krypton shiver!"_

He placed his mouth back over Bruces erection instead, taking him in as far as he could, whilst he began to stroke Kal at a much faster speed. He had such a hard time not laughing when they groaned in unison.

He did as Bruce had done before, and took hold of his scrotum, and began vibrating his hand.

NOW Bruces hips bucked, and the dark knight actually bit his lower lip. Kal wasn't doing much better, as Wally began to stroke him at a VERY intense speed.

He hadn't switched to sucking Bruce for no reason; they'd already seen earlier that Bruces human skin couldn't handle the friction from his super speed, even with the vibrating he was only holding on lightly just to be safe. Kal however, was more than able to handle it.

It was feeling rather overwhelming to the speedster, but he didn't want to stop, not until…

He gasped a bit as Bruce suddenly bucked hard, and came in his mouth, and Clark came just a moment later over his hand.

His eyes shut tight, he waited until both relaxed back onto the bed, before letting go. He coughed a bit and wiped the cum from his mouth. He wasn't sure how much he liked it, but he could definitely say he didn't hate it.

Feeling just a bit embarrassed, he realised they had both turned their attention to him.

Oh geez he had to be a sight…kneeling there covered in their…ugh, when the heck did he turn into such a prude!?

"You didn't say when…" Kal playfully noted.

Suddenly understanding, Wally chuckled quietly, and just waved his permission instead. He felt the bed shift as they let go and sat back up. Slowly, he glanced up again.

"…was I meant to…swallow…?" He asked meekly, regaining the scarlet glow to his cheeks.

Bruce gave a soft look and chuckle. He leant forward and kissed the speedster gently along the side of his face.

" _Only_ if you wanted to," His voice held just a note of firmness, making it clear that Wally was under no obligation.

He pulled Wally Close, and kissed along his shoulder. He slid his strong, rough hands down the speedsters back, causing a long shiver, until he reached his backside, which he gripped firmly enough to make Wally gasp quietly.

This time though, the speedster only pressed further into Bruce, giving off a submissive, barely audible whine. Encouraged, the dark knight practically curled his body around the smaller male, his dominant side showing through.

Warmth surrounded Wally as Clark pressed against his back, and for a moment, he was back in that closet, unable to move and practically submerged in heat and personal scents.

But this time he didn't feel like he was being crushed or suffocated; he wasn't drowning no, it was more like being wrapped in a giant blanket, just warmth and pleasure surrounding him from every direction.

Kals strong hands slid along his waist and hips, grasping a small sigh from him, but also a tiny smile.

"Saw that…" Kal whispered in his ear, and stole a kiss to the cheek.

Wally couldn't help it as his smile grew, and felt his thigh squeezed in response.

Kal was reacting like Bruce; his touches became firmer as he rose to lead the way alongside the dark knight, and Wally had no quarrels in the slightest.

His voice however, hitched when he felt Clarks fingers slide around to his butt cheeks and between them.

"Wally…" Bruces tone halted the whole moment, as he turned the speedsters face towards his own, "…All honesty now, do you want to keep going?"

Wally both loved and feared that expression of his; so firm and intense that you couldn't ignore it if you turned away and shut your eyes, but so deeply concerned that his heart melted before he could even think to resist.

' _Darn you Bats…can't win no matter which face you're wearing.'_

"Come on Bats, don't ruin the fun now."

"Wally…" Bruces stare intensified to what had to be the Wayne version of the bat glare.

It made Wally both want to laugh and let out a little 'meep'.

"Don't tell me to take this seriously Bruce…" He gave his familiar pouty frown, but wrapped his arm around the taller mans neck and pulled him down into a firm kiss, "…I already am. Yeah, I'm scared; don't need to be the world's greatest detective to see that. Doesn't mean I want to stop though. I know I'm like a child probably three quarters of the time, but I'm only LIKE one! I still feel…!"

His voice betrayed him again…he was really gonna have to work on that. Instead he grumbled and rested his forehead on Bruces shoulder.

"Dang it…you know what I mean…please don't make me match my hair again."

Despite their caution, Bruce and Clark were both quick to embrace him again.

"No promises," Clark nipped him on the ear again.

He massaged the speedsters rear for a while, helping him relax, before he raised his hand.

Wally could feel him moving, but as he went to look around, he gasped and shook as a wet touch hit his entrance.

"Try to keep your body relaxed," Clark soothed him over his shoulder, "It's going to be uncomfortable at first, but I promise it'll pass, ok?"

"O…ok…" Wally barely managed to get out, cursing his nerves for suddenly jumping into centre stage.

"No fear…" Bruce whispered as he wrapped his arms right around Wallys shoulders, and pulled him into a gentle but deep kiss.

Wally didn't hesitate to let him take the lead as he felt a strong hand slide up to hold the back of his head. It was all too easy to relax into the kiss, but a sharp pain almost broke him out of the entire mood as Kal pushed a finger carefully in.

Bruce quickly hugged him tightly, and slid his tongue across his lips, until Wally realised what he was doing. He opened his mouth a little unsurely, and quickly felt Bruces tongue snake passed his teeth.

It was a strange feeling at first, but he soon moved his own tongue to greet its visitor. Clarks finger made him flinch and whimper quietly as it moved in deeper, stretching his muscles in a way that plainly put, felt totally wrong.

Yet, as he let his mind become engrossed in the kiss, he felt his body follow, and soon the pain began to diminish to just pressure and a feeling that he couldn't exactly explain, even though he knew what it was meant to be.

Kal kissed him lightly between his shoulder blades, before gently pushing a second finger in. This time Wallys whole body jumped, and he broke free as something between a yelp and groan escaped him.

"Is it too much?" Clark paused, looking to him.

Wally was panting, but shook his head.

"No…Don't…don't stop…" He reached around to grab the back of Clarks head and kissed him almost desperately, "…please don't stop."

Clark gave that fond smile of his, and kissed him again. He moved his fingers in and out slow but deep, occasionally scissoring them to make the smaller male gasp and moan.

Bruce instead kissed down the middle of his chest, whilst his hands roamed over the athletic stomach. He slowly trailed his fingers over a spot on Wallys lower abdomen just above the thigh, which send a massive shiver through the male.

"H-hey…no fair."

"Hmm, you liked it."

"Yeah, but still…no fair."

Bruce chuckled and suddenly took Wallys length in hand. He moved his fingers teasingly slow up and down, and Wally silently cursed how confident his actions felt…he knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

"Stop t-teasing…!"

"Now now, I just want to make sure you enjoy…every…single…second…"

"Absolute feeling of pleasure? Check check DOUBLE CHECK! Now quite it Bats!"

He heard a dark chuckle near his chest…bloody dark knight, he did so enjoy being cruel like this…!

Worse was the fact that Wally really did enjoy it…how could any form of torture feel so damn amazing!?

' _Oh man…this…this is actually happening!'_

He'd hoped he would never think or say that about anyone, it was so cliché…but hell, he was making out with Batman AND Superman! Anyone could be excused for having a few fanboy thoughts about that, right?

Maybe…but in truth, he didn't give a damn about the masks…or capes…it was the men behind them that he couldn't believe he was sharing a bed with, and it wasn't even the billionaire playboy or handsome journalist he meant.

Intense, intelligent, driven, mysterious and protective Bruce Wayne…compassionate, patient, playful, occasionally quirky and awkward but equally protective Kal'El.

It was the thought of THOSE men that made warmth spread through Wallys stomach and throughout his entire body. His smile was grateful and happy and showed the complete peace that suddenly took him.

He may've blushed but he didn't feel embarrassed when he groaned loudly and didn't even try to hide it.

Clark looked over the speedsters shoulder to Bruce, and mouthed something to him. Bruce nodded lightly, kissed Wally once more on the chest, before pulling away carefully.

Wally couldn't help a tiny whine, but watched as they both shifted around him. Clark moved back to let Bruce take his spot. Bruce gently encouraged Wally to lie back, and this time the speedster did so, feeling the butterflies starting to flutter around in his stomach. The bashful expression returned to his face as the dark knight positioned himself between his legs and lifted his hips slightly.

"Wally, you're alright…" Bruce smiled warmly at him.

His voice was calm and assuring , but Wally knew he was checking one more time.

"Yeah, I am," He hoped his own tone was convincing enough, because he really meant it.

It must've been, because Bruce nodded and began positioning himself better. Wally raised his hips a bit, trying to be helpful, but inhaled sharply as he felt Bruce begin to enter him.

"Breathe…" Bruce hushed him, and leant over the smaller male.

He touched their foreheads together and grunted deeply as he pushed in…slow enough not to hurt too much, but not so slow that it became torture of a different kind.

Wally screwed his eyes shut; it hurt…he'd known it would but that didn't take any edge off of it. He gritted his teeth and wanted to curse as he felt tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. It wasn't so much the pain as the completely odd sensation that caused it.

"Hey…" Bruce wiped the tears away, "…you're alright."

Wally looked up to him, and returned a small smile, nodding a little. He wrapped his arms around Bruces neck as the man started to rock his hips gently, and through the pain, he began to feel the pleasure he knew was meant to be there.

He peeked an eye open as he heard Bruce grunt; he could see Kal doing something behind them.

' _Is he…?'_

"Damn it Clark…" Bruce growled.

"Don't get impatient," Clark just laughed, "You got annoyed at me the one time I rushed."

"We're both ready, so do it."

"Alright grumpy bat."

"What did I tell you ab…!"

"Just hold onto Wally will you?"

The Kryptonians firmness was a bit surprising. Wally wasn't quite sure what the two were bickering about this time, but scrambled to get a hold of Bruce as he felt himself being pulled up…not the most comfortable feeling when the dark knight was already inside him…

He realised Bruce was balancing on the balls of his feet, whilst Clark was sitting behind him, holding his hips.

Keeping an arm around Wallys back and the other supporting under his butt, the dark knight lowered himself back over Clarks lap, waiting only long enough for Clark to line himself up, before he slowly sat.

Wally watched as Bruce gritted his teeth, glaring at the empty air over head.

Bruce was good at hiding physical pain, everyone in the league knew that, but he was only human. Wally had just felt that pain himself, Bruce hadn't had nearly as much preparation as him, and Clark was bigger than either of them…not ridiculously big as a lot probably believed the Kryptonian to be…but still what others would loath to admit impressive.

Worry in his eyes, Wally licked softly under Bruces chin, not knowing what else to do. The kind gesture caused Bruces muscles to relax, and he gave a quiet, deep groan as he smiled down at the red head.

A Bashful smile in return, Wally wrapped his arms back around Bruce, burying his face in his shoulder as he moved his hips playfully.

A slight chuckle, and Bruce lifted him partly off of his erection, only a bit, before pushing right back in.

Wally gasped and shook; it still hurt a little, but Bruce was giving him just that extra little stretch with his gentle movements. Soon all he could focus on was the pleasure shooting through his stomach.

To be honest, no matter what he'd heard, he'd never imagined the pleasure of sex could possibly be as completely addictive as people said. Sure he was a young man, he got urges like anyone his age, but the thought of stopping this? It wasn't simply undesirable, it actually felt taboo.

He lifted himself up the best he could from his position, and pushed himself back down, yelping a bit from the feeling.

Damn it was strange, but did it ever feel good!

Bruce looked pleased as the red head panted against his skin. He smiled over his shoulder to Clark, who nodded and took hold of the dark knights thighs. He did the same as Bruce had done, and lifted him barely off his lap, before bringing him back down. However, he only did so about three times, before he lifted him up higher, and pushed back in harder.

Bruce in return, tightened his hold on the speedster and began thrusting into him harder.

"AH!" Wally's head flew back, his body arching as the heat grew with every thrust, "…w-w-wait…wait…"

"Wally…?"

It actually took him a moment to realise they'd heard him, and he looked to their sudden worried expressions.

Oh damn…if he thought he felt strange before, now he felt some odd mix of guilt and joy that they acknowledged his request.

"Sorry…sorry, I'm ok…just…" ok, yeah, he definitely felt more guilt, "…I know this is a really awkward position and timing and everything…but…can you put me in the middle?"

"In the middle?" Kal quirked an eyebrow.

"Bruce, can you turn to be facing Clark? Uh! But, not if it hurts too much…"

Bruce also raised an eyebrow, but his more appeared to be at the suggestion that he couldn't handle the pain. He lifted slightly up with Clarks help, careful to get his legs around before he sat back down, now facing Kal.

"Wally? Are you sure this isn't too uncomfortable?" Clark queried as the speedster was once again squished between them.

"Only if it is for you guys," Wally answered.

And he meant it; a bit squishy, yes, but he was EXACTLY where he wanted to be.

He glanced to Bruce, double checking the abrasion on his chest was bandaged, before he wrapped an arm around each of them. Pulling them close, he began to vibrate his entire body as fast as he knew it was safe to.

Both men groaned at the action, and he got the feeling he was in some fun variety of trouble.

"I don't believe you're as new to this as you claim…" Supes smirked and kissed him under the chin, making the speedster laugh and squirm.

"I promise I am Supes…!" Wally giggled.

"Perhaps… but I want to see how long you can keep this up…" Bruce grinned wickedly.

He took Wally by the hips and lifted him up, before pushing him back down as he thrust his own hips up. The speedster cried out, but kept his grip and the vibrations going. Challenge accepted, Bruce barely held anything back now, keeping only enough control that he wouldn't hurt the smaller male.

Clark gave them a chance to get started, before he lifted Bruce up and thrust hard into him. Bruce groaned loudly, which made the Kryptonian smirk.

Wally's eyes widened in shock and pleasure. Damn! Supes was timing his thrusts with Bruce almost perfectly, and he was feeling the force of both! Keeping the vibrations up was damn hard when his mind was slipping away faster than he would from the threat of being tickled.

Part of him realised his voice was reverberating around the room now, apparently just as much control lost, but he just couldn't care…he wanted them to know…wanted them to keep going.

Oh no…he was going to…!

"Not yet…" Bruce whispered low against his chin.

He gripped the speedsters length tightly, causing a puppy like whimper, but he hummed gently against the side of his face to calm him.

Clark grunted and suddenly grabbed Bruces ass as he started to stand. Without hesitation, Bruce wrapped his legs around his waist, but only tight enough to not slip, not enough to hinder his own thrusts. This was nothing new to the dark knight…Clark often stood when he topped Bruce, he could thrust harder and knew they both liked it.

He was a little more concerned about Wally, but a quick glance to the red head and that worry dimmed to bare existence. The speedster was barely vibrating anymore because he just couldn't focus on it, though his body still seemed to be…well, humming…which was no doubt from the pleasure rather than intention.

However, his face was on the verge of switching from pleasure to pain, and so he released his grip on Wallys length, giving a playful swipe of his thumb over the tip as he did so. He knew that would send the speedster over the edge, and watched as Wally gasped and arched up.

But karma decided to play along, as a strong thrust from Clark…as well as Wallys cry of pleasure… pushed him overboard as well.

And Clark was practically dragged with them, as only a few moments later, they were both almost crushed against the man of steels body. Warmth filled Bruce as it did Wally, and all three were left shaking in the aftermath.

Clarks legs gave out, but he caught himself with one hand. He slipped out of Bruce and lowered them both back to the bed carefully. Bruce grunted as he rolled over so Wally was on the mattress, and slid out of him.

Wally moaned quietly at the feeling, and just stayed exactly where he was, keeping his eyes closed. He was exhausted, felt more glorious than his brain cared to explain right now, and he didn't want this very moment to ever end!

The bed shifted around him, and he felt two very strong arms cover him from both sides.

"Catch your breath young West…we're not done yet."

Wally grumbled just a little at the whisper.

"Can we be done for two more minutes?"

"Do YOU need that long?" Clark teased.

"Define need…" Wally sighed.

Non the less, he gave a cheeky smirk and placed a hand on both Bruce and Clarks ribs. He vibrated his hands lightly as he moved them up and down their skin, nothing stronger than a gentle massage, but both men next to him sounded pleased with it.

Clark enjoyed the touches as his body recovered. Soon, he pushed himself up over Wally, kissed him briefly on the lips, before attaching himself to the base of his throat.

Wally inhaled sharply, but kept his eyes closed. He gave a shaky breath as Clark moved his hand along the side of his chest, down his ribs to his waist.

Bruce moved around behind Clark and began preparing him just as the Kryptonian had for him. He earned a deep sigh for it, and with the man distracted, he leant right over his back, and slid his tongue between Clarks shoulder blades.

Clark gasped loudly, his body fully arching. He seemed to freeze for a moment, before he slowly smirked over his shoulder, an expression that said 'well done' but also 'I'll remember that'…he knew it was a look that Bruce loved to entice out of him, and occasionally he'd grant it…if only as a small, playful pat to the dark knights ego.

When he was quite finished fighting off a laughing fit, Wally peered up at Clark, his eyes tracing over every single muscle of the mans body. His fingers shyly traced the natural curves and dips of said muscles, before he leant up just enough to lick one of Kals buds. When he got a sound of approval, he balanced himself in that position, and continued to do so.

Kal in return, brushed his fingers around one of Wallys buds, chuckling when a light squeeze made the speedster falter momentarily. He reached back to tap Bruces hand; the dark knight finished what he was doing and moved back around to be in front of both of them.

"Wally…"

The speedster paused and looked up. Confused, he didn't resist as Clark pulled him carefully up to his knees.

"Would you…?" Kal asked gently.

Wally gave a tilt of his head (oh he had no idea how crippling that cuteness was to Clark and Bruce!), before noting that Clark was holding his length. He smiled brightly up at him, and leant down to kiss his tip. He took it in both hands and stroked up and down, this time happily doing so at a normal speed. He licked over the sensitive skin, taking his time but with far more confidence than before.

He barely noticed as Kal gently pushed on his back, whilst Bruce carefully pulled his hips back. What did grasp his attention, was the wet touch at his entrance. He looked around to Bruce, not sure what to make of it when he saw his face between his butt cheeks.

Clark cupped the side of his face, and turned his attention back, but it wasn't a harsh action, it was a reassurance. Wally shivered fiercely as the licking continued, but managed to move his mouth back over Kals length. If he thought about it, it seemed kinda gross, but when he didn't, it just felt really good.

' _Aww what the hell…'_

It really wasn't any worse than anything they'd already done so far. He began pumping his mouth up and down, timing it with his hand, which continued to move along the bottom of Clarks length that he couldn't quite fit comfortably in his mouth.

Clark watched him fondly, rubbing his back soothingly. He couldn't blame the younger man for being nervous, and honestly? His shyness was just too damn cute! He watched as Bruce freed up a hand to start preparing his own length, and once he was starting to go hard, he caught his attention and beaconed him over.

Understanding, Bruce gently squeezed Wallys ass, before carefully coming to stand over him, right in front of Clark. Keeping a hand on Wallys shoulder, the man of steel took Bruces length in his other hand, and didn't even wait before he slid his mouth almost the entire way over.

Bruces knees buckled slightly, but he stood tall and grabbed Clarks head with both hands. He thrust his hips back and forward, slow but deep and firm. Clark didn't seem bothered, and Bruce knew he wasn't…he could be rougher with Clark and not have to worry about hurting him.

Wally pulled back for a bit to catch his breath. He wrapped an arm around Bruces leg, and began vibrating as both limps met his skin either side of his body. He planted soft kisses around Clarks crotch and stomach, vibrating his fingers near the bottom of his length.

The vibrations made Bruce shudder in delight, but apparently erased the last of his patience, as he pulled out of Clarks mouth then. The Kryptonian didn't release him right away though, and very carefully, blew his cold breath over Bruces length.

The dark knight gasped as loud as Clark had done before. Having felt the cold breeze over the top of his hair, Wally hid a small grin, or he did until he heard a Bat growl from above…

A rush of air under their bodies startled them both; Clark and Bruce looked down to find the speedster missing, and performed a short but hilarious scan of the room, before they found him sitting at the head of the bed where he'd skedaddled away.

Wally gave a sheepish grin and shrugged; hey, he wanted them to have fun, but better safe than sorry…less anything like before happen again…

"Uuumm….that's not how I like my flash sandwich…?"

He couldn't believe it (more than a lot of things) that they actually laughed at his lame joke, but both cracked up quite loudly, and the sound…oh how horrifically cheesy it was to say…made a fuzzy warmth spread throughout his chest.

What an incredible feeling…better than any of the physical pleasure for sure…

…although, he _did_ had to admit, that all felt pretty damn amazing as well!

Clark gave an understanding smile, and moved across the bed to him. Wally laid back and wrapped his legs up around Clark with a playful giggle.

"Ready?"

Wally nodded almost excitedly as the Kryptonian lined himself up. Kal took him by the hips and began pushing in slowly.

Important detail or not, it dawned on Wally why Bruce had gone first; he clenched his eyes and teeth, his fingers digging into the skin on Kals back. Had it been anyone else, he'd probably have drawn blood.

He knew he was making it look worse than what it was, it was definitely more pleasure than pain, but Kals added size was stretching less prepared muscles.

Clark wrapped an arm around his shoulder, the other staying on his hip as he pushed right the way in.

"Damn…"

"Is that a good damn, or bad?"

"Good…definitely good."

"Promise?"

"I'd pinkie promise, except I don't think I can let go right now…"

Kal laughed, and held on tight as he pulled out almost the whole way, before pushing right back in. Wally gave a pained grunt at the action, but when it was repeated, he instead moaned softly. His voice grew a bit louder with every thrust.

Clark released the speedsters shoulders so he could support himself on one hand. He smiled and pushed his hips back a bit as he felt Bruce lining himself up.

Bruce was sure to take his time as he pushed into Kal; Man of steel or not, he never appreciated it if entered too abruptly…

' _He enjoys when we play rough, heck he actually encourages me to go as hard and fast as I want…yet THIS is the part he chooses to get indignant about? Heh, I swear he's quirkier than Wally sometimes…'_

Kal paused in his own thrusts, and gave a slow, deep moan.

Wally couldn't believe how sexy it sounded in his ear, but his body was growing impatient again. He stretched so he could reach Kals ear; he licked and nibbled his earlobe in a way that could've been considered a small tantrum.

Kal smirked and chuckled. He carefully timed himself with Bruce as he started moving again. Noting how tightly the speedster was holding on by himself, he released his hip and reached under his body to take Wallys length and began pumping him fast.

The speedster groaned loudly as Kal hit something then that felt like it sent a spark right through his body. His arms slipped and the top half of his body slumped back onto the bed, leaving him at a very odd angle as his legs still clung on tight, but not one that appeared to deter Kal. The man of steel was still going fairly slow but had no real need to go any faster; the size of his length and the strength of his thrusts…not to mention his seemingly impeccable aim…were doing the job just fine.

If his mind wasn't slipping into blissful hiatus, he might've considered their weird positions to be the result of some extreme round of twister…it would be a great joke to log away for later…but nothing coming out of his mouth right now was coherent or within his control.

' _Damn…Supes…stop…no, don't stop…huh? Oh crud, now I don't even know what I want!'_

The pleasure was becoming too much! He wasn't sure he could hold out. Non the less, he gathered the strength to push his hips up just as Kal came down…

The cry that erupted from his mouth made his face flush again.

' _Too far…'_

"Again…"

The husky whisper from above drew his gaze up; Kal looked exactly how he felt.

"Do that again…" Kal whispered.

His words sounded like an order, but not one born from an illusion of control…he was just the one in the dominant position…perhaps it could be considered a beg?

"Ask me nicely Supes…" Wally smirked, despite his position.

The Kryptonian growled as he lowered over the speedster.

"Cheek."

Wally just gave him a giant grin. Drawing a deep breath, he regained his balance, and thrust his hips up again. However, the force of it slapped away his grin, and apparently his voice, as a soundless gasp took hold of his throat.

"Easy…" Kal hushed him as he kissed near his ear, and held his face, "…I've got you, so just breathe…"

"C-c-can't…"

"Yes you can Wally, but you have to allow it," This time it was Bruce who'd spoken.

He'd slowed his own movements for the time, seeing the tears brimming on the edges of Wallys eyes again.

The Speedster closed his eyes tight, pushing his head back into the pillow as he forced himself to slowly inhale as deep as he possibly could. Three times doing this, and his body began to sink willingly into the mattress. He looked back up to the men above him, surprising both as his face glowed from the lust that filled his eyes.

"Sorry, I guess I just wasn't expecting that…" He held onto one of Clarks arms as he slowly pushed his hips up, moaning softly.

Kal smiled, though he still looked a bit worried, and moved his hips again. Bruce soon followed, and whilst the speedster clearly didn't realise it, he was now the one leading; His eyes were closed, but his head was back as gasps and groans flung from his throat freely. Every few seconds he picked up the pace, and whilst their control hung on by a metaphorical thread, Bruce and Clark only intensified their own actions when he did.

Wally tilted his hips to make sure that Clark hit that sensitive spot each time, and it was damn hard not to go too far…that last time had been a bit too much of a shock for him, at least for now. Maybe he would come to enjoy that intensity in the future…he hoped so…but for now, this was more than enough, and even if he never came to like going too hard, he didn't care, and he doubted they would either.

' _Oh…oh…man…I…!'_

Well, there went the last of his control, out the door and off down the hall!

' _Grab me a sandwich whenever you decide to come back!'_

At least his humour stuck by his side…

Wally squirmed beneath Clark for a moment, before his whole body arched and he cried out, coming over himself and the man above him.

He didn't know who came next out of Bruce or Clark, but somewhere passed the blissful void of pleasure, he heard more than one groan of release, and felt heat burst through him.

He panted heavily, soon becoming aware of his body back upon the mattress. His muscles were so heavy! He doubted he'd be able to move for a good while.

He could feel them on either side of his body again, their breath tickled his cheeks.

"Not that that wasn't the best thing ever…I mean, better even than the Candy Emporiums six scoop triple fudge mega ice cream and cake sensation…."

He grinned tiredly when they both gave him a look.

"….'Build your own sundae'….it's my favourite combination…" He shifted his body the best he could, trying to get his head further on the pillow, "…not that all this wasn't way better than even three of those, but, would it be ok if that's all for now…?"

He glanced around to Clark, feeling his eyes lids beginning to sink. The man of steel cupped his face, rubbing his thumb over the soft cheek.

"Do you promise to talk to us next time something's worrying or upsetting you…without running a marathon first?"

"I will…" Wally didn't hesitate to reply, "….I promise."

"Good," Bruce rolled up against his back, his strong arm sliding ever so smoothly around his waist.

Wally found himself automatically stretching his neck as Bruce left slow, deep kisses along the skin there. The small shudder it gave him was pleasant, but nothing that would stir his body again.

However, he soon realised that the tickling on his face wasn't just someone breathing.

"Now what…?" He barely mumbled as he wiped a stray tear from his eye.

"Ssshhh…it's alright," Clark whispered, wrapping his arm around the smaller males shoulders, pulling him easily against his chest, "…it's all good emotions now, so let them come if they want to."

Wally gave no resistance, curling up as close to the Kryptonian as he could. His grip however, was on Bruces arm; he wasn't letting go as long as he had the strength to do so!

Clark wrapped his free arm around them both, whilst Bruce curled his fingers into the back of Clarks hair, holding on in a possessive fashion.

The two of them smiled as Wally gave a quiet laugh that he himself seemed unaware of as he drifted off between them.

The speedster was a handful, but dang was he a cute one!

They shared one more kiss, before letting their own eyes close.

It was Clark who stayed awake the longest; He snuck one more peek of Bruce when he knew the dark knight had fallen asleep. This was HIS occasional treat…seeing Bruce look so relaxed and peaceful. He never saw him like this when awake…even when happy and calm, there was always a note of apprehension waiting in the background.

It just came with being Batman, Kal supposed, but at least when they were together like this, it was just them; no world outside the room to be concerned with, no capes, masks or symbols covering up their true selves.

Just them, only them…no one and nothing else between them.

Well, except a very snuggly speedster, and even if he tried, he for sure wasn't getting out of there again…Kryptonian AND Dark Knight would both see to that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! Hope it was worth the read!
> 
> As always, sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story in the past, it's be a lot of fun to write :)
> 
> So, as for future bonus chapters, there will be three definite ones, and possibly a fourth, but please don't hold me to that...it's only an extra idea I had the other day, and I haven't decided if I want to write it or not yet. As for their rating, this one was the only M rated one, though the next chapter will be on the same level as one like chapter 5, i.e. suggestive and maybe a bit teasing, but nothing that needs to be a concern.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the wait with this one, see you for the next update!


	8. (Bonus) Trouble, I Beckon Thee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New chapter done :) This is the second bonus chapter, and takes place right after the first one.  
> I remember the first part of this one got written in one night...I was on one really good writing spree that night ^_^ seriously, if the writing fairy ever bites, do NOT stop until you're satisfied! XP  
> The rest took a good while to do, but it was a lot of fun.  
> This chapter IS more for a laugh than anything, so if anything or anyone seems a bit weird or over done or such, my bad :P  
> Anyway, please enjoy :D  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot line of this story.

' _Aaahhh…sleep, sleep…wonderful sleep…I'm in blissful, peaceful sl…'_

_THUMP!_

' _*Sigh*…never mind…'_

Wally doubted he could've frowned more as a firm shove to his back denied his return to the world of dreams that the last shove had ripped him from in the first place.

He glared at nothing in particular as his eyes opened, but turned that annoyance on the culprits behind him…

…they were STILL at it!? He didn't WANT to say they were animals, but come on!

True…maybe he hadn't been asleep very long; He'd gotten enough rest that he had no idea how much time had passed, and he just couldn't be bothered to look for a clock in this room. For all he knew, he may've only slept for ten minutes, but his gut told him it had been A LOT longer than that.

Honestly, he was surprised it had taken this long for them to drag him from his slumber…although he had more than a little suspicion that he'd been woken up earlier, and drifted back off too quickly to remember.

"OW!"

Bruces heel had found the back of his thigh; Honestly! How did they NOT notice!? If they didn't feel him, they should've at least heard!

' _I know I don't want to get in the middle of that…but way to make a guy feel forgotten!'_

Too tired to be cross, Wally sighed heavily and curled back up near the edge of the bed; Maybe if he just gave them plenty of space, they'd soon finish up and he could get back to…

_WACK!_

Wally sat right up; That…had been Kals elbow...landing straight on his head!

He looked to the other two with watering eyes as he held his head. That had really hurt and they were carrying on as if…!

Wally sighed again; who was he kidding? Of course they hadn't noticed…they never did when they were playing _"King of the Bed"_.

On the verge of growling himself, he grabbed his pillow and climbed out of bed. He curled up on the floor and returned to glaring at nothing.

Truthfully, he wasn't really mad at them…well, right now he would claim he was furious and he'd make that pretty damn clear if they asked…but it was all heat of the moment. He actually loved that they were equally…uuumm…enthusiastic? He may have never actually watched until now, but he'd snuck quick peeks here and there, and it was actually pretty funny to witness…from a safe distance anyway.

A few minutes separated from flying feet and elbows, and that heat subsided. He took a deep breath and glanced back up to the bed.

"EEEEP!"

Thank goodness for super speed! Otherwise he'd never have scurried back quick enough to avoid getting squished by his partners, as they literally rolled straight off the bed!

Huh…it would seem they'd done that enough times that the impact no longer bothered them…or maybe it was just that Kal had been the one to land on bottom...

He sat pressed against the wall as he watched them; looks like they were back to kiss wrestling, which meant…

"The floor is made of lava…!" He grabbed his clothes from the ground and hurried into the ensuite, almost slamming the door behind him.

A kiss wrestling match meant nowhere was safe; they would no doubt travel over than entire floor before they finished…best bet was always to put a wall between them and yourself…and with Superman in the mix? Heh, even that wasn't guaranteed…

He grumbled quietly, giving up the hope of getting back to sleep any time soon. He rinsed off in the shower for a while before drying off and pulling his clothes back on.

"…huh?"

Did he lose weight during all that activity? His sleeves were huge and his pants nearly fell off…!

…Oh, wait a minute…

Wally looked himself over in the mirror, and broke into laughter at the sight of himself in Clarks clothing. He hadn't taken note of which clothes he'd grabbed, the closest ones had seemed right at the time!

"At least I got the briefs right…" He smirked, and glanced to the door, "…well, time to face the firing line I guess."

He peered out the door, a bit disappointed to see them indeed still on the floor.

"Man, and I thought I had stamina…"

A quick breath, and he darted out of the bathroom.

"Whoa whoa! Hot potato, hot potato!" He practically had to dance around them just to get passed…them and anything they'd knocked over in the process.

He was so turned around by the time he made it to the other side, he had to stare out into the hallway just to make sure he hadn't wound back up at the ensuite again.

Closing the door behind him, he leant against the wall on the other side, and breathed out heavily. Finally, safe! Although, just to be sure, he didn't linger for long, and headed off down the hallway.

* * *

"This place is definitely kinda creepy at night…"

Wally wandered about Wayne Manor a bit, eager to put on some lights but determined not to give into his paranoia. He didn't really know what to do, except try not to die of boredom; he didn't have a clue when those two would finish up, and he dared not go back prior to that.

But being a speedster, patience was a fickle thing…you might have patience for dealing with an annoying person, or a frustrating situation…but standing in lines? Waiting for something to happen…damn did it EVER put the strain on! Wasn't exactly the speedsters fault either…what would only seem seconds or minutes to someone else was like hours to them, no matter how much they might try to think otherwise.

"Everything alright, Master Wallace?"

Sooner or later it was going to hit him just how high pitched his little squeal had been, but for the moment, Wally just dashed behind the couch as the voice made him jump. Before he even looked up to check though, he knew who it was.

"Darn it Alfred…you can't just sneak up on a guy like that!"

"Apologies sir, and I repeat, is everything alright?" Alfred replied calmly where he stood holding a candelabra, surprisingly bright in the dark room.

Wally almost wanted to make a joke about it; that urge was quickly slammed down.

"Yeah, everything's fine…" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head a bit, "…Just, needed to stretch my legs a bit…"

"Of course sir. I suppose Master Bruce and Master Clark are taking part in more…vigorous, activities?"

"Ha-ha! Yeah, you could s…"

Wally must've looked like someone just slapped with how stunned he was. Alfred said and did nothing as the younger man just stared, until he looked away with an awkward shrug.

"Sorry…I guess you would know…" He gave a guilty grin, "…is, that why you're still up?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Huh?"

Alfred gave a kind smile then, and gestured out of the room.

"Perhaps this conversation would be more satisfying over a plate of scrambled eggs on toast?"

The way Wallys eyes lit up…one would swear he was a child waiting in line to go meet Santa.

* * *

Most only ever saw him when he was stuffing down food, but even a speedster could enjoy a slow, quiet meal.

Alfred quietly tinkered around the kitchen as Wally bit into his toast. Despite his earlier grumble about being woken at such an hour, this moment was surprisingly pleasant. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten up for a late night snack, but doing so WAS rare for him…

…ha! He bet no one would believe him about that!

"Feeling a bit better, master Wallace?"

"…What was I even complaining about earlier?" Wally replied with a tired, content smile, "…I mean my back was a little achy before, but that's already go…"

Wally nearly bit his tongue when he realised what he'd just said; what he would give to go one waking hour with blushing about something!

If Alfred at all considered it too much info, he showed no sign. He simply took a seat opposite, stirring his cup of tea.

They returned to that silence for a while, which was only awkward if thought about. Eventually though, Wally found the need to speak.

"It's not wrong that I…uuh…came downstairs, right?"

"When nothing more than one's own life is at stake, retreating from danger can hardly be considered cowardice, now can it young master?"

Wally took a second to register what he'd said, before laughing around his mouthful.

"I really thought I was gonna get crushed if I stayed in there, no way I was getting any sleep. By the way, what time is it?"

He looked around until he found a clock.

"Shoot! It's nearly three am? Do you usually stay up this late Alfred?"

"Like you sir, only on nights such as this."

On cue, a crash from somewhere above drew their attention.

"…Did…did they just…?"

"Fall through the third floor again? Yes, quite literally," Alfred didn't look the least bit surprised…nor impressed.

"uuhh…is Bruce going to be ok?"

"The day master Bruce remembers he's NOT the one bullets bounce off of, I'll tear that cowl off his head myself to see who's trying to steal his identity."

Wally knew he shouldn't laugh, but it was hard when Alfred so smoothly pulled off being serious and sarcastic at the same time.

"Heh, maybe retreating was the best move after all. I think a few new bruises are more than enough for me."

His hand grazed through his hair, sending a sharp pang through his head as he found that particular bruise hadn't healed just yet.

"ow…"

Alfred watched the younger man silently, barely glancing as another crash was heard upstairs.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere. They'll likely be awhile still," He took the speedsters now empty plate.

"No offense Al, but where? It's cold outside, and we're already on the bottom floor…"

"Not quite sir."

"Huh? Yeah we…" Wally's brain woke up just in time, "…oh, right."

* * *

Wally had been down in the cave plenty of times by now, but always within Bruce's presence. Even with Alfred leading the way, he felt like a student sneaking around some out of bounds area.

' _Batman is so going to jump out of the shadows any moment, and I'm going to end up shrieking like a little girl…'_

Such a loyal imagination…not!

He paused on the stairs between the second and third platforms as he noticed his uniform hanging up close by, right alongside Supermans and Batmans. Huh, looks like Alfred had gone to the trouble of cleaning it; Or more likely he couldn't get it back in the ring, even Wally himself still had some trouble with that once in a while.

He zipped over and touched the material, even sniffed it when he thought the butler wasn't looking.

Nope, definitely clean…

' _Aaaww…and here I would've just shoved it back in the ring…ripped, smelly and everything.'_

"Please take a seat master Wallace."

"Huh?"

He turned to see Alfred standing by a chair.

"Umm…ok…why?"

"If I'm to be frank sir? You've just shared a bed with two brutes that have more muscle than they know what to do with. I think a quick check up is in order."

Wally couldn't stop himself; He burst into laughter at the comment. Alfred didn't seem to mind.

"That's nice of you Al, but I'm all good…speedster, remember?"

' _We've been there, done that already…'_

"I must insist, sir."

Wally was pretty sure he felt his face pale at the firm calmness of Alfreds expression; it was…in its own way… as scary as the bat glare.

He zipped over and plopped his butt down, sitting up like he was in class and the teacher just walked in.

Well…Bruce did act like a grumpy teacher sometimes, perhaps Alfred was like the kind but firm principle.

' _Note to self; NEVER make that comparison out loud…even if you think you're alone.'_

He winced as Alfred checked over his scalp; the butler had a severe lack of hesitation in his actions…this was clearly nothing new to him, and it made Wallys stomach clench to wonder just how many times he'd had to patch Bruce up.

Still, it's not like Alfred was hurting him (unless he touched a particularly large bruise), it was just kind of embarrassing.

He tensed a little when the butler checked his shoulder and previously hurt leg; perhaps it was just as strange for him…metas weren't exactly his usual patients.

"All seems to be well and in order then master Wallace." Alfred stood tall and moved back to a little work bench.

Wally almost wanted to tease him for the slight surprise he could hear in his voice, but reprimanded himself very quickly; was hardly Alfreds fault that speedsters healed so much faster than most.

"Like I said, speedster…" he opted for cheerfully, "…so, how much longer do you think we should hide out?"

"Shouldn't be too much longer. Master Kent is an early riser, and usually demands a minimum of four hours sleep."

Something about that rang a bell in Wallys head, and he felt a slow grin making its way across his face.

"Didn't he once pin Bruce under his body when he tried staying up later than that?"

"And proceeded to sleep in that position until he was good and ready to wake up? A good few more times than once."

Wally bit his knuckle as he fought a serious giggle fit; the thought of Bruce flailing under Kal!

Sure they were BOTH like wild animals at moments like right now, but let's face it…if Kal decided to plant his feet and not move, the only thing gained from trying to make him would be a hilarious, pointless show.

"All very amusing until one must deal with the aftermath…"

Well wasn't that tone just a bubble burster! Wally looked to Alfred with a slight frown, until he thought about it better…

…Bruce after being pinned against his will for at least four hours…

"…You really do get the short end of the grumpy bat stick, don't ya?" He offered a sympathetic smile as a small apology.

"Nothing worse than the usual," Alfred gave a light shrug, his enduring patience apparently unfazed by the reminder of dealing with Bruces moodiness.

He moved things around the table for a few minutes in silence before he spoke again;

"Do not feel left behind master Wallace; they may seem thoughtless and blind when they're like this, but it is of the environment around them…not of you."

Wally glanced up silently, not sure what to say.

"They have strength, experience and boldness you may lack, but they've found within you what they themselves rarely possess."

"…crazy charm?" Wally answered after a minute.

"Playful affection," Alfred corrected him, "You've noticed as well as any that their usual shows of feelings for each other involve competitive bouts and butting heads. That just happens to be the nature of their physical relationship as well. There's no harm in this, their relationship is much more than just some overdose of passion. Everyone after all, shows their feelings in very different ways."

The butler finally turned to look at him.

"You love giving and receiving the small, frequent gestures, where as they're often not sure how to handle them, though it's certainly not as if they don't appreciate any they receive. Their feelings for you are no weaker than their feelings for each other."

"I know…" Wally mumbled, a tiny smile on his face, "…they're just…a bit more used to what they already had…"

"Precisely," Alfred made him pause, "They love this new relationship you all share, but they're still learning…in fact, I would consider tonight as a lesson for all involved."

"As a…?" Wally began.

But he knew what Alfred was saying; Bruce and Clark might need to learn to watch where they were wrestling, but he would need to learn that there might be nights he couldn't share the bed with them…

…it sounded bad but it really wasn't; he WANTED them to have their…uuhh…"special" time, he just didn't want to get crushed in the process.

He already knew all this, but hearing someone say it out loud made his chest feel a bit lighter.

"Wait…" Realisation jumped upon his face, "…Alfred, did you…? I mean…"

Alfred probably wasn't lying when he said he usually awoke on nights like this, but it seemed more as if he'd stayed up the entire time.

' _Did he really stay up because he was worried about me?'_

He lowered his face to hide a smile; Alfred was always so caring towards all of them, he almost always seemed to know exactly what anyone needed to hear.

Perhaps Bruce wasn't the only dark knight standing out of sight until he was needed.

"Still, a little more care on their part wouldn't hurt," Alfred suddenly spoke again, "They often need a firm reminder, and sometimes that reminder needs to be painfully obvious."

Wally raised an eyebrow at him, knowing there was some message in those words that was…well…not so obvious.

But Alfred was heading back towards the stairs.

"Do please take your time down here Master Wallace, and please feel free to use any of the spare rooms around the mansion should you want to try and get any more rest. Except for the large room at the very end of the third floor, it belonged to master Bruces parents."

"Got it," Wally nodded quickly, definitely wanting Alfred to know he understood that part.

"Then, good _morning_ to you young sir," Alfred finished with one last chuckle, and headed off upstairs.

Wally gave a small chuckle in return and watched until he disappeared from sight. He felt a bit nervous now though…being alone in the Batcave? Surely he wouldn't be able to stay down here a whole minute on his own WITHOUT touching and examining everything in sight!

In an attempt to satiate that curiousity, he got up and started looking around, hands practically clamped behind his back.

"look, don't touch, look, don't touch…" He repeated over and over quietly.

He passed by different glass cases, many consoles with a temptation inducing amount of buttons, large and small objects that he knew had to do with different criminals and missions, and more than one bat themed vehicle of varying kinds.

He chose to take his time to explore, but even then, just after a few minutes he returned to where he'd started. His hand brushed over the back of his head, not sure what to do now; maybe just head straight back to bed?

His hand brushed over the same bruise, making him wince again. Actually, it barely hurt anymore…his metabolism was pretty much back to normal, and so was his speedy healing. The reaction was more due to the memory of how much it had hurt when he'd gotten it.

"Stupid Supes…" He half grumbled, hoping just for a moment that the Kryptonian was still too preoccupied to hear that.

Something caught his eye; the stuff Alfred had been moving around on the table was an odd collection indeed…a needle and thread sat loosely next to a box of what looked like various materials and craft objects. Nothing crazy mind you, but still nothing he'd expected to see in the bat cave.

Still, as he glanced over a sewing book on top, he remembered that Alfred had patched up their uniforms, and black Kevlar wasn't exactly going to cut it outside of Batmans suit.

A light shrug and he dropped the book. He headed back over to where said uniforms were and collected his own. His ring was sitting on a small table close by, which he quickly scooped up; he wouldn't leave poor Alfred to try and get it back in himself.

After he finally got the uniform sealed away once more, he turned to put the hanger back. He took a chance to look over the other uniforms there. He was admiring the professional work on Batmans uniform, when a sudden screech from a bat somewhere startled him and caused his to miss the hanging rack as he tried to put it back, and it became entwined with Kals hanger instead.

"Ha-ha! Come on you two…" He grinned as he twisted the hangers to unjam them, "…Jeez, almost as inseparable as your owners…"

The hangers came loose just before something sparked in his mind. He blinked at both uniforms, before his eyes trailed towards the stairs, his gaze penetrating past the limit of the door, as if he could see his lovers from down here.

That contemplating look was growing upon his face. He recalled the amount of bruises and aches he'd wound up with earlier just because those two couldn't separate for longer than two seconds.

He bit his bottom lip, but was smirking at the same time. He didn't dare speak one word…not a whisper nor a chuckle…as he grabbed both uniforms off of the rack.

' _A firm reminder huh? Well, I'll certainly remember never to take on a butler after this, providing I survive whatever comes my way later.'  
_

* * *

It couldn't have even been a full ten minutes later when Wally had made his way back upstairs, but he'd felt his eye lids growing heavy as he worked and just couldn't be bothered to keep an eye on the time.

He hadn't been sure if Bruce and Kal were still at it (surely even they didn't have THAT much stamina!), but he hadn't seen or heard them anywhere, so he'd made his way back to the room he'd slept in earlier after passing out.

It was as if the bed had smiled welcomingly at him, and he'd just smiled in total gratitude as he closed the door and climbed straight under the covers, not even bothering with his clothes this time.

He'd fallen asleep almost the second he'd snuggled down, and hadn't shifted in the slightest when about half an hour later, the door had slipped open.

* * *

Kal gently pushed the door open, only far enough to peer in.

He stared worriedly at the bed, where he could see their favourite red head curled up away from them.

Bruce glanced in around him; both had returned to Bruces room after waking from a quick and sudden snooze on the floor somewhere downstairs. When they'd seen Wally missing from the room, they'd instantly realised what had happened, and thrown their pants back on…Clark having borrowed a pair from Bruce after he couldn't find his own. The offered shirt had threatened to rip, so he'd gone without it, whilst Bruce had just pulled a white shirt on without buttoning it up.

They looked to each other; This wasn't the first time Wally had disappeared when they'd gotten carried away, and frankly they were surprised to find him still in the mansion…locating him usually meant a trip over to Central City, or in one case, the Watch Tower.

They walked in, shutting the door as quietly as possible. Clark moved to the far side of the bed so he could see Wallys face. The younger male looked absolutely blissful, he wasn't sure guilt would let him risk disturbing such a sight.

Bruce wasn't so hesitant though; he was already climbing carefully in behind the speedster, so Clark slowly followed suit.

"Think we hurt him?" Bruce spoke, running his hand under the back of Wallys shirt, checking for any obvious injuries.

"Probably, it's always hard to tell with that quick healing of his," Clark answered as he brushed Wallys hair from his face, and placed a kiss to his forehead, "…sorry Wally."

"Clark…" Bruce raised an eyebrow, "…is this your shirt?"

The Kryptonian glanced down to see what Wally was wearing, and then peeked under the blanket to his pants.

"So that's where they went," He couldn't help laughing quietly, "And I thought _we_ weren't focusing."

A quiet whine and sudden twitch silence them both; Wally curled up a little, before one eye slid open only a fraction. It located Kals face, before shutting again tightly.

"Suupe…go'da sleeeep…" Wally whined tiredly, raising a hand sluggishly to cover the others mouth.

Clark chuckled as he took the hand, lightly kissing the soft fingers…so small compared to his own.

"Ok, we'll sleep now," He whispered, pulling the smaller body against his own.

Wally didn't answer or even open his eyes, but his hand moved to start searching behind himself.

"I'm right here…" Bruce hushed gently as he moulded himself against Wallys back, wrapping an arm right around the slim waist and kissing the back of his shoulder.

The speedster finally relaxed once more, and like a light, he was out.

"It'll be dawn soon," Bruce mumbled as he glanced to the wall, as if he could see outside the windowless room.

It was a mere statement more than anything, but it earned him a warning frown from Kal.

"Do _not_ make me have to pin you again Bruce... that really wasn't the most comfortable way to sleep."

"How comfortable did you expect to be laying straight on top of someone?"

"Laying on you? What, no…that wasn't the problem, it was your constant complaining right next to my ear!"

The two glared each other down, before exchanging humoured smirks. They curled right around the speedster, and finally submitted themselves to sleep.

* * *

"Will breakfast be to go today, young sir?" Alfred held out a plate of toast as Wally came charging (at a normal pace for once) into the kitchen, grinning his head off.

"I think it's about to be," He couldn't stop the grin as he pulled his ring from his pocket, slipping it onto his finger, "They just went to get their uniforms."

"You don't say?"

An intercom on the bench top sounded then.

" _Alfred! Is Wally up there with you!?"_

"I believe _that_ is your cue…" Alfred spoke as he moved over to the intercom.

He felt a short gust, and glanced around. He was alone in the kitchen, holding an empty plate.

Unworried, he touched the button to answer.

"No master Bruce, he isn't."

"… _You had something to do with this, didn't you…"_

"I beg your pardon sir?"

" _Did you suggest he should mess with our uniforms!?"_

"I made no suggestions other than to hide in the bat cave for his own safety," Alfred answered with just the right amount of indignance, "I haven't the slightest clue what you're quite so worked up about right now sir, but breakfast is just about ready should you feel like eating before leaving the house for a change."

Alfred left the conversation there as he moved away to prepare himself some tea, but quietly, he did rather hope they'd come upstairs so he could see the damage for himself before they decided to begin a new race.

Hey, it never hurt to hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! Yeah... I had a bit too much fun with this chapter :P  
> As always, sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes.  
> Alfred is one of those characters I love, but have such a hard time getting the character right, I hope he was as in character as possible here.  
> So, there will be two more bonus chapters after this one...possibly three, but probably not. The next one is waiting to be written, so will be awhile, the following hopefully shouldn't take too long after that, as it's mostly written already.  
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoyed it :) I'll see you for the next chapter!


	9. Deep Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahoo! New chapter done! ^_^
> 
> Oh my gosh...I hadn't planned on it, but once again I had to split this chapter in two; the original full chapter was thirty pages long! O_O that's long even for one of my chapters! Sooo, I split it right down the middle, and hopefully I'll have the next one edited and posted in a few days (no promises).
> 
> It's taken longer than I realised to update this story, though now days that doesn't really surprise me anymore. Still, really sorry for the wait.
> 
> So, in this bonus chapter, we see where it all started...HAHA! XP in other words, just before Wally was part of the relationship ;P
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of it's characters, only the plot line for this fan fiction. There is also a quote from a childhood cartoon series mentioned in here that I DO NOT own of course...but for stories sake, I'll mention that properly at the end :P (granted it's only brief anyway).

' _I can't take this anymore!'_

' _Stop, that's enough. It's part of the job and you know it!'_

' _But it's torture! And it feels like it'll never end!'_

' _It's almost over and you know that to!'_

' _No it's not! Not for me it's not!'_

' _Ok…fair point…but it's still not THAT much longer. Besides, it's only dragging on because of…'_

' _Don't…I don't want to start fretting again…'_

' _You're already fretting!'_

' _Yeah but…'_

"Flash?"

The scarlet speedster yelped and fell backwards with a loud crash, violently ending his current mental argument with himself. He groaned in frustration more than pain as he laid there looking up at his friends.

"Hey Bats… hey Supes…"

"Flash we've told you about leaning back on your seat like that," Superman scolded, "And don't say others do it, you're…"

"I know, I'm supposed to help set the right example…" Flash replied as he stood, taking extra care to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

He didn't doubt they knew it was there, hidden or not.

"Don't put your feet on the console again," Batman had no quarrels about growling as he picked the seat up.

Flash almost answered, but bit his tongue; Batman paid for said console, so yes, he got to make the rules about it.

He settled instead for stretching out all the stiffness that had built up during his turn at monitor duty. He hardly had the right to complain, considering how much easier it had become ever since the league had opened its doors to so many new members, but he _was_ a speedster; sitting still was NOT a strength of his.

"Are you alright?" Kal finally asked.

"Yeah, fine," Flash answered distractedly, watching as Aztec, Vigilante and Super girl…this shifts monitor duty partners…got up and left.

"Wake up Flash," Batman suddenly spoke from where he was already sitting, not really harsh, just firm enough to make the speedsters attention snap back to there and then.

"Guys, we get thrown through buildings, smashed into concrete and used as punch bags all the time…honestly I barely feel this kind of thing anymore."

He started to leave, when he felt a light touch to the back of his head where he'd hit it, and gave a sharp _"OW!"_ as it throbbed. He pouted back at Superman, whose face plainly read _"Oh really?"._

"Go to the med bay anyway, and don't run there," Batman ordered without looking around.

Part of Wally wanted to argue, but that minor nagging really wasn't going to get much attention from him right now.

"Ok," He sighed, and sent a wave over his shoulder, "Later guys."

He made his way to the door, and raised a hand to press the button.

His body became rigid; his gaze darted to the men behind him, then back to the doorway.

He wrung his hands together, held his face, gripped the back of his mask, bit his lip and struggled not to shuffle his feet.

Finally, he forced his arms back by his side and uncurled his fingers.

"Hey…" He spoke as he turned back to face them.

"Hm?" They both answered as they looked to him.

Footsteps behind him sent a wave of panic through Wally's body; Firestorm and Black Canary had arrived for their share of monitor rotation.

"Listen…uh, when you've both got a moment, mind if I talk to you about something?"

He was smiling….did he look calm? He felt like he looked calm…oh how he wished he could see his reflection right now, he needed to know!

"We've got a moment right now Flash," Superman looked at him attentively.

"Oh, uh, yeah…but, I don't," Wally blurted it out, but managed to keep smiling, "Gotta go talk to Shayera about something, you know, AFTER I go to the med bay and all, but I'll catch you both around at some point."

He reached back and pressed the door button.

"Don't worry, it's no emergency or anything," He actually laughed a little this time, "Just…you know? When you both can…?"

Damn it, there went his brilliant act tripping at the finish line; he'd heard that weakness slip past his control.

With another quick grin and a playful salute, he left the room, not daring to exhale until the door slid shut.

' _Come on Wallace West,'_ He hunched over as his stomach and chest flipped out on him, _'Phase one complete, but you've gotta keep both feet in this pool if you want to get anywhere…'_

"Flash, wait."

He shot up straight, pointed with both hands to the side as if to say _"Exit, stage left"_ And raced away.

Kal poked his head out the doorway, and glanced in the direction he could hear the speedsters heartbeat.

"The med wing is the other way!" He called despite knowing it was pointless.

"I said no running!" Batman surprised him by following his lead, probably just venting a little frustration at the scarlet speedsters antics.

"His heart was racing…" Kal spoke quietly, frowning when Batman just looked at him, "I mean even for him!"

"He was on edge…and not from pent up energy," Bruce wasn't to be out done when it came to observation, "Whatever he was going to say might not have been an emergency, but it was important."

"He said he wanted to speak to _us_ ," Kal kept his voice quiet as he glanced back into the monitor room, "You think he would've spoken right here and now if…?"

"Maybe. We'll have to find out later," Bruce moved out of the doorway and back to his post.

Kal took once last glance down the hall, before following suit.

* * *

Wally didn't see Batman or Superman the rest of the day, in fact, other than having lunch with Shayera and a quick wave to Green Lantern, he didn't see the founders at all.

He couldn't deny it was nice that his stomach had stopped flipping; dinner, TV and a hot shower at home in Central city left him feeling very chill indeed.

But as he climbed into bed, he finally came face to face with the fact that what he'd done…harmless as it seemed…couldn't be undone.

"Damn it…" He buried his face in his hands, exhausted of the world for one day.

* * *

"Superman."

"Yeah, what is it?" Clark looked around to Batman as he came out of one of the meeting halls.

"Really?" Bruce gave no other specification as he just held up a manila folder.

Clark just frowned, half tempted to roll his eyes; he had a feeling this was going to happen.

"What's wrong with my report this time?" He knew damn well what, but he asked anyway.

"You're a reporter…Clark," Bruce lowered his voice on that last part, as he moved forward and pressed the folder against Supermans chest, "And I know for a fact you're a good one. Show the same care in your league reports as you do in your Daily Planet ones, and keep your emotions out of them!"

"Why is it that no one else has a problem with my reports, but you have to dissect them like a high school English teacher?"

Contrary to belief, there was PLENTY of stuff that scared Kal'El…

…Gotham Citys dark knight, was NOT one of them!

"We ALL know how you feel about Luthor, and we agree with you, no questions asked. So stop shoving it down our throats and remain impassive as you do with any of your other criminals!"

"Don't you DARE berate me for letting my emotions slip you hypocrite!" Now Clark loomed over him, " We've all read your reports on Joker; you think you remain neutral, but the complete bluntness in your choice of words says it all!"

If he wasn't so annoyed, Clark might've taken pride in one of the only times he'd managed to stump Bruce, but more than anything, he was upset he'd been pushed to say that.

"I'm sorry," He breathed out deeply, exiling that burst of anger from his system, refusing to indulge it further, "I had no right to say that."

"No more right than I had."

Bruce's tone had lowered, and Kal gave a dry smile, hearing the returned apology in his voice.

"I'll rewrite it later…" Clark glanced to the folder and shrugged.

He went to turn away, but glanced around when the folder was pulled from his grip.

"…just remember for next time," Batman tucked the folder under his arm and made to leave.

He didn't see Kals sudden smirk; The Kryptonian grabbed his spare wrist, actually made him twirl on the spot, then pinned him against the nearest wall, sending papers scattering over the floor.

"Don't you even think about it!" Bruce growled as Kal pressed against him.

"Now why would I do that?" Kal smirked right up close to his face, before pressing his mouth to Bruces, quick and sharp, "If I stopped to think about it, you'd find some way out of my grip."

"What is it with you and the whole _'kiss and make up'_ thing!? You realise you're taking it too literally?"

"I grew up on Earth Bruce…of course I get the idea of the message. I just think this is the more fun option. Don't act like you don't agree."

"We're on the Watchtower Clark!"

"Oh and that stopped _you_ from shoving me into the hanger broom closet last time?" Kal lost his smirk, but wasn't mad or anything, "This is happening Bruce…feel free to catch up any time."

Batmans look probably would've sent anyone else packing, but he didn't wait long to grab Clark by the hair and force him into another kiss. Unlike most of the Kryptonians body, Clarks lips weren't quite so invulnerable, which is why with enough force, Bruce bit through his skin.

Clark hissed and pulled back; Bruce knew full well he hadn't appreciated it, and only returned the glare sent his way as Kal wiped his lip clean of blood.

Still, neither of them were actually mad now…

…oh, quite the opposite actually.

* * *

In and out…in and out…

Wally breathed in as deeply as he could, and let it all out in one loud breath. He realised how much he'd needed that sleep last night, damn had he woken up feeling great! A hearty breakfast, a morning shift at work, and now he stretched as he left the teleporter, giving J'onn an ever enthusiastic thumbs up as he headed out of the room.

He was gonna do it today; Yesterday had been a little spontaneous, and it was a private topic… his hesitation could be forgiven.

Supes and Bats might have a little trouble accepting what he had to say at first, but with some time he was certain there'd be no problem, they were great guys after all. As long as he worded it right there'd be no issues, and he'd gone over it many times both in his head and out loud.

He'd already called the watchtower to make sure they were both there, now he just had to find them.

"Where are they?" He mumbled after doing a few laps of the watch tower, "Where didn't I check? Hmm…I covered all the bathrooms…I checked the cafeteria and javelin bay…Maybe they're in one of the elevators? Training rooms are negative…meeting rooms are also nege…no, wait, I didn't look there. Would they be there when there's no meeting? Bats does like to go there sometimes to work in private…"

Well there wasn't much else he could do unless they chose to reappear on their own. Sure he could try reaching them on the comms link, but he was worried his nerves might swing into effect if he knew they were waiting for him. He dashed to where the meeting rooms all were, but took his time as he checked them; the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt Bats right smack in the middle of a case file…

…and yes, that was going from experience.

"Cut that out!"

Wallys head whipped to the side.

Bingo!

That had definitely been Bats voice, and he heard Supes laugh just a moment later.

That laugh…

' _Whoa! Stay focused! Don't you dare swoon right now West!'_

In out…in out…

He leant against the wall, holding his stomach as his confidence wavered.

"You can do this…"

Another deep breath, and Wally stood straight, and walked around the corner.

His voice retreated straight to the back of his throat, and his confidence drained down to his feet. His only possible comfort could be found in how his body had instinctively known drawing attention was a bad idea; his fist had gone straight to his mouth and blocked out any sound of shock that tried to escape.

There at the end of the hall, in the corner between two meeting rooms, Superman and Batman were engaged in much more intimate play than Wally would've thought either would ever dare whilst at work.

He only stared for about two seconds, but he didn't mean to do so even that long…he just couldn't bring his damn body to dash back out of sight any faster.

It hurt…damn it hurt! He hunched over again, desperately drawing breaths as his chest knotted wickedly.

Why did it hurt so damn much!?

' _I can't…I – I can't!'_

He couldn't talk…he could barely breathe, the very thought of going back around that corner formed an invisible wall to block his path.

He couldn't…he just…he had to get out of there…!

' _Run…run…RUN!'_

And so he did, as far as the limits of the watch tower would allow before he could find somewhere private to collapse on the ground, arms crossed over his chest.

In out…in out…

' _Breathe…please, just breathe…'_

Back at the meeting rooms, Kryptonian hearing finally caught note of something…not right…

"Clark?" Bruce panted as the stronger man looked around, back down the hallway.

"Sorry, it's just…" Clark stared down the hall, the sound still humming in his ears from somewhere, but no longer nearly so close, "…I thought I heard Flash's heart beat again."

"…close by?"

"It was, but…"

Bruce suddenly stood up properly, pulling his uniform straight.

"Do I even need to guess what happened?"

Clark rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly, but it only lasted a moment.

"We need to go find him."

"I highly doubt he wants to see us if he just…"

Bruce shut up quickly when Clark grabbed his arm and gave him a hard look.

"Batman…I can still hear him, and from here it sounds like he's in trouble."

* * *

"That's it Flash, easy does it…" Doves hand moved slowly over his back, trying to help relax the hyperventilating speedster.

In out…in out…

Flash kept as tight a grip as he could on the paper bag, his breathing finally calming down after what felt like ages to him. He couldn't believe how shaken he felt, he couldn't remember ever hyperventilating…at least not as the Flash anyway, once as a kid at school if he recalled correctly, but…

"Thanks…" He panted as he pulled the bag back, grateful to feel his heart beating only slightly faster than its usual speedy pace.

"Of course, but what on Earth caused that Flash?"

"Ha…trust me, you don't wanna know…" Wally managed a sheepish grin, "Let's just say I've got major bad timing."

"What happened in here?"

Oh no, speaking of bad timing…

Reluctantly, the scarlet speedster looked around as Supes and Bats entered the room. They both look quite concerned, and…unsure?

' _Yep…I'm busted.'_

"I found Flash on the floor. He seemed to be having a panic attack," Dove answered, still looking worried.

"Yeah, but I'm cool now, thanks man," Flash quickly put in with a smile.

"Perhaps you should still go to the med bay, even just to rest for a while?" Dove being Dove, was ever reluctant to argue as Flash got to his wobbly feet.

"Good idea," Batman interrupted.

He took Flash by the arm and steered him towards the door.

"Flash can be stubborn about this kind of thing, we'll make sure he gets there," Superman assured Dove with a kind smile, "Thanks for looking out for him."

"Umm, sure…" Dove didn't know what else to say as they left the room, although he felt a little bad when he caught the _'help me'_ look Flash threw back at him.

* * *

Flash felt like a criminal as he was led down the hall. Dang, Batmans grip was strong! He could've gotten out of it, but he hadn't failed to notice Superman walking directly behind him.

' _Oh yeah sure, just have the next fastest guy guarding me. Sheesh, why him? Why them?'_

Resisting the desire to protest, he silently let himself be escorted, not realising that his silence had the other two far more concerned.

* * *

It was only about fifteen minutes later; Kal sat in a seat next to the bed, whilst Bruce just stood in the corner.

Wally was laying on a med bay bed, his eyes closed and his arms draped lazily over his mid rift. The doctors had tested his breathing and given him the oxygen mask for just a few deep breaths, before concluding that he merely needed a short rest.

"Flash?"

Bruce kept his voice calm and quiet. He knew Flash wasn't asleep, just zoned out from the world, he didn't want to make him jump.

Thankfully, the speedsters eyes slipped open calmly, and he remained relaxed as he looked around to them.

"How are you feeling?" Clark stood up.

"Better…much better," Flash answered honestly, "Thanks guys."

"You saw, didn't you?" Batman decided to get straight to the point.

Flash didn't answer right away, but the way his eyes lowered said everything.

"Sorry, didn't mean to…" He finally mumbled.

"Don't apologise, it was our fault," Kal began.

"Ours?"

He shot a look to Bruce at the interruption as if to say 'don't start'.

"I doubt just seeing us would've sent you into a panic attack, you've seen worse things," Batman tried to follow through without being too harsh.

' _Oh, you think so do you Bats?'_

"Well I was worried you might think I was spying on you or something, I wasn't sure what to do, and…well…panicked," Flash kept that angry thought out of his voice as he grinned and shrugged.

"Fla…Wally," Kal moved closer to the bed, "…does this have something to do with what you wanted to tell us yesterday?"

He watched as the goofy grin slipped away. Wally stared at them both silently for what seemed too long. Said silence gave his answer, but his face gave no emotion as he suddenly rolled away from them.

"Sorry, I...I'm kinda tired guys, I…" He trailed off without really putting much effort into defending himself.

Kal went to speak, but realised better when Bruce signalled for him to stop.

"We'll let you rest up," Bruce answered in his place.

The two older men left the room, not daring to speak until they were down the other end of the hall.

"Back when they were together, Flash once opened the elevator doors to find Shayera and John making out in there, and he didn't freak out nearly this bad," Kal kept his voice hushed.

"I would've thought he'd make a joke of something like that."

"You'd think so, but he was actually very embarrassed, more than they were in fact; he was wearing the guilty puppy eyes for the rest of the day. Still, compared to now he didn't seem so upset, like this time he's…"

"…like he's hurting."

"…yes."

They were both silent for a while.

"Is our relationship somehow, upsetting him?" Kal finally worded their shared thought, "How can that be? He was the first to congratulate us."

"Perhaps we should've taken note of that at the time."

"What do you mean?"

"I remember when we told everyone; John, Dianna, Shayera and J'onn…they were all stunned and not sure what to say at first. Wally? He went completely blank. It wasn't like the others…he didn't merely not know what to say, he didn't have a clue at all how to respond."

"Somehow I'm not surprised that you remember such details, but surely even that can't be so unusual, not if he didn't have a clue to begin with."

"I thought so at first, but then he suddenly jumped in and cheered for us, patting us on the backs and everything…"

"…grinning with all the goofiness he could apparently muster," Kal remembered, "…nervous reaction? He does tend to get sillier when he's flustered."

"Maybe, but looking at his recent behaviour? I'd now say he was covering his true feelings. We all know the way he hides behind that clown act."

"I know for a fact that he isn't against homosexuality. I once saw him defending a gay couple against bullies, and not as the Flash, but as Wally West. And relationships between team mates has never worried him. That means, the only obvious reason left would be…"

Kal trailed off. He knew it was weak of him, but he didn't want to be the one to say it.

"He likes one of us," Bruce took mercy on him.

Clark swore under his breath; Bruce was probably the only one to ever hear him do that.

"It doesn't matter which one of us it is, but what do we say to him? Assuming it's true…"

"We don't," Bruce held up his hand as Clark made to argue, " _For now_. You saw for yourself, he's not going to talk to anyone about this right now. We wait until tomorrow when he'll no doubt be back to his chirpy self."

"I don't like the thought of leaving him to dwell on this. But, I suppose you're right."

"Don't worry. Tomorrow, _we_ go to _him_."

* * *

Well the plan had sounded great in theory…simple and straight forward.

The hitch? Wally didn't turn up at the watch tower at all the next day, nor the day after that. Kal had gone for a trip to both Central and Keystone on that second day, followed by anywhere he could possibly think that the speedster would go.

No luck.

The third and fourth days, they both remained in their own cities, attending to whatever jobs were required of them.

It was on the fifth day, when they entered the main meeting hall of the watch tower, that they heard the familiar laughter.

"You did not," Shayera just grinned doubtfully at the speedster before her.

"Did to!" He grinned right back.

"Wa…Flash."

"Superman, Batman. Flash here was just telling me how he apparently apprehended some town bully by challenging him to an eating contest. According to our bottomless pit, the guy ate so much that he couldn't do anything but lay on the ground and groan in agony as he was arrested."

"And it's totally true," Flash was in one of his harmlessly cocky moods, "Give me a minute and I'll go get a copy of the photo they took."

"Flash," Kal caught him up before he could even think of following through with his suggestion, "May we speak with you after the meeting?"

The speedster halted for a moment, but his goofy grin didn't falter for a second.

"Sure Supes," Well that was a surprising response, "If there's a chance to of course," there it was.

"Shall we get started?" John spoke up, moving to the table.

Flash glanced around slightly when Superman took the seat next to him, but quickly turned away.

"He WILL run," Bruce barely whispered, knowing Kal would hear him.

Kal only gave the slightest of nods, knowing full well he'd have to be quick off the mark.

The meeting appeared to go as normal for anyone not looking at the small details; Wally piped in once or twice with his usual jokes and honest curiosity about details, and his face looked its usual mix of boredom and desire to act mature in the situation, but there was a clear fault in his behaviour…

….He was too stiff. Wally could NEVER sit still in a meeting, not for a lack of trying (these days, he DID genuinely try), but his speedster blood didn't allow for long periods of stillness outside of sleep. He would change sitting positions up to a dozen times, occasionally more depending on the length of the meeting. It happened so often that no one found it annoying anymore, it barely registered their attention now.

"Does that cover everything?" Diana asked about thirty minutes later.

"Yep, that's all for now," John took one last look over his notes, before tucking them under his arm, "Flash, make sure to get that report in by tomorrow."

"Will do."

"I mean it Flash."

"So do I," Flash gave a defensive glare.

The others all started to leave the room. Superman was about to speak up, but to his surprise, Flash only stood up to stretch his legs, and lean against the table. He didn't even try to make a break for the exit, although his eyes stayed glued upon it until only the three of them remained.

"So what's up guys?" Wally finally chirped up, looking over his shoulder at them.

Both Bruce and Kal were caught off guard; his behaviour during the meeting didn't at all justify his calmer demeanour right now.

"Hellooo? Watchtower to the brooding duo…" Flash raised an eyebrow at them.

"Flash," Bruce stood up, "I think you know what we want to talk to you about."

"You mean my little episode the other day?" Flash rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, didn't mean to worry anyone. Oh, and uuh…sorry, about…you know? My terrible timing."

"Wally, you've been gone for days," Kal now stood, and didn't miss the minuscule retreat Flash made, keeping their personal space intact.

"Only two…and a half," Wally shrugged, "I was here yesterday, and the afternoon before that. You guys were busy in Gotham and Metropolis, just like I was busy in Central and Keystone before that…I've gotta give my cities some attention once in a while to."

"I went to both cities the second day you were gone, and you weren't there," Superman raised an eyebrow.

"I did take a lunch break in Coast city that day. Must've been bad timing," Flash looked honestly thoughtful, "You should've just called me on the comms if you weren't sure."

"You're skirting around the subject," Bruce lowered his tone just a tad, "You wanted to tell us something that day at monitor duty, and before you…had your episode…you were coming to talk to us about it."

"Yeah I was," Wallys tone was suddenly heavy as he crossed his arms over his chest, "About that, don't worry about it. It was nothing important."

"And that just confirmed to me how very important it actually is," Kal frowned, standing tall.

"I second that," Bruce advanced on the speedster slightly.

Wally stood his ground, but his attention suddenly turned to the table; his leg had started vibrating madly, and shaken the furniture around him. He grabbed at chairs and the table, steadying them the best he could.

"Flash," Kal grabbed one of the chairs, pushing it back into place, "We realise this has something to do with _us_ ," He gestured to himself and Bruce, "…we didn't come here angry, and we have no intention of being angry, no matter what it is, or why you're withholding it."

Wally gripped the edge of the table, but his face stayed lowered.

"No," He mumbled firmly, "It's not something that I even have the right to talk to you about."

"Who is it?" Bruce suddenly broke in, forcing Wallys attention, "Which one?"

The speedster had put up a brilliant act of confidence, but there it went, abandoning him to his situation. His shoulders hunched, he curled into himself, and now he wouldn't dare look away from them.

Damn it; Bruce could be blunt when needed, where others wouldn't dare, but that had just been tactless of him.

He moved forward, intending to apologise…

"Flash."

All three looked around; Shayera was leaning against the door frame, her face stern and not in a way they could exactly interpret.

"Talk, you and me, right now," She indicated for the speedster to follow, clearly not about to accept refusal.

Wally seemed a bit less stressed as she said that, and instead wore his usual, pouty hesitation. He hung his head, and walked out of the room.

Shayera on the other hand, had turned her attention to the other two, her glare daring either to complain.

"Before you say it, yes, I overheard your conversation, and yes, I know exactly what's on his mind."

"So do we Shayera…" Kal started.

"No, you only assume you do," Yes, that had been a warning note to her tone.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell us either," Bruce grumbled.

"Not a chance. It's not mine to tell," The Thanigarian stood and walked away.

"So what now?" Kal sighed, crossing his arms, "If Shayera's gone into protective sibling mode, we're not going to get very close to Wally for a while."

"She said she heard our conversation, yet she didn't step in until the moment she thought Wally felt threatened. She was going to let us speak with him about it."

"I'm getting tired of referring to the topic as 'it', I hope we get the chance to talk to him again today."

"Not likely…but agreed."

* * *

Separate missions all across the globe meant that any time that they DID see Flash again, was no time to be talking about personal business.

They ended their shifts sitting in the leisure area of the watch tower; Bruce was preparing to head back to Gotham, but frustration had finally gotten to them both, and they didn't waste the near emptiness of the room on peaceful small talk.

"You're wrong Batman," Kal was careful to use titles rather than names when people were flittering in and out of the room.

"How so?" The dark knight pressed, "I may not have paid it much heed before now, but he's all but smitten when he's around you. He flutters about, talking to you until you either give him attention or get annoyed at him. The times you've been seriously hurt, he's had to be told to leave the med bay, and then he'd refuse to leave the watch tower itself, even if he had to lie and tell us he was going."

"He does that with all of us! That time Diana got knocked unconscious for two days, I found him sleeping in the gym, hiding behind the weight rack. John had told him to go home and rest, but he was so worried that he stayed awake until he passed out. Anyone he cares about gets hurt, and he can't stand to leave their side."

Kal stood up.

"Why are you so convinced that it's me? What makes you think it's not you that Flash is interested in?"

"You're the more likeable one," Bruce put bluntly, "You might be firm and occasionally impatient towards his antics, but you're compassionate and honest. Despite your strength, you're one of the gentlest men alive; Flash is too upbeat and cheery to…"

"To want someone like you?" Kal raised a stern eyebrow as he caught on to where Bruce was heading with that, "We've been over that excuse, it's not going to wash with me…"

"He's a hero Superman, just like you," Bruce growled, "You might lack his hyperactive personality, but you're often just as cheerful and fun loving. His morals and means of fighting crime are much more similar to yours than they are to that of a vigilante like…"

This time Clark made no effort to resist rolling his eyes, as he clamped a hand over the dark knights mouth.

"Whilst I do like hearing you say such nice things about me…" He smirked dryly as he drew closer, "…this discussion isn't turning into another brooding bat marathon. I've heard him call you a badass plenty of times out in the field, or even when you're training here on the watch tower…did you know he gets quite eager to watch you train?"

Convinced that Batman was going to keep quiet, he removed his hand.

"The only difference in our compassion is how we go about showing it. You make it seem like there's no reason he couldn't like me, but in my mind, it makes perfect sense that he would like you. Face it dark knight, there's a fifty perfect chance that you might be fancied by none other than the scarlet speedster himself."

"It was sounding sweet until you put it that way."

Kal laughed; that man…always ready with the last word. He didn't mind, it was quite amusing sometimes.

He turned sharply to look at one of the door ways.

"He's coming…"

They promptly looked away as the door slid open, and laughter filled the room. Flashed walked in, followed closely by Dove, both laughing a bit too loud for the preference of some.

Bruce couldn't recall ever seeing Dove laugh so hard; the boy was hunched over holding his stomach, whilst Wally…wiping a tear from his eye…held the boys shoulder for support.

Clark had heard Wally laugh plenty of times and in plenty of ways; this one was a real, carefree, happy laugh…almost innocent, IF it wasn't for that hint of sneakiness upon his face.

"Thank you Flash, it means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it. I didn't know you had it in you…" Flash chuckled in return, before looking thoughtful, "…no, scratch that. I knew, but still didn't see it coming."

"I have to admit, you're expression _was_ priceless," Dove gave a playful smile.

"Careful. That's almost warrants a challenge," Flash wasn't to be out done in playfulness, not with the wink he added to that sentence.

They laughed again.

"For real though, thank you."

"Anytime," Flash gave a genuine smile this time, and patted him on the shoulder, "And…thank _you,_ for…you know, not being disgusted or anything."

"Why on Earth would I be? I'm honoured you chose me, out of everyone else…"

"You're a great guy Dove, I wanted it to be you," Flash smiled softly.

Dove returned the pat on the shoulder. Then with a quick wave, he headed out the other side of the room. Flash stretched his arms over his head and sighed loudly.

The pleasant smile never left his face.

"Have we been fools…?" Bruce whispered.

"If you mean assuming it was one of us he likes, then it looks that way," Kal answered him, "But then why did he want to talk to US in the first place? Why did he freak out around us, and not Dove when he helped him the other day?"

"He feels completely calm around Dove. Perhaps he was looking for outside support…from friends who would understand how he feels. I mean, did either of us even know he likes men?"

"I'm surprised you didn't, but no. I've seen him flirt plenty, but only with women. Still, whilst I understand him being initially hesitant after seeing us, could it really have freaked him out enough that he no longer trusts us enough to confide in us?"

"Freaked him, no…but embarrassed for certain. We've been at this for a while Superman, whatever's between him and Dove looks pretty fresh."

"He doesn't think we'll pity him does he?"

"More like we'll think it's cute and just tell him it's puppy love at most."

"…what do we say to him?"

"We just support him, like he wants us to."

At that moment, Flash looked randomly in their direction. Just now realising they were here, his smile faded, although not to panic or fear.

He seemed more uncertain…unsure how to act or what to say…IF he should say something.

Finally, his expression turned sad as he looked away, and he zipped out of the room.

Kal let out a small sigh.

"I guess support will have to wait…again."

* * *

"Will you be stopping the night Master Clark?"

"Would love to Alfred, but the Daily Planet isn't all too thrilled with Clark Kents slower work results lately," Kal chuckled as his plate was taken away.

"Hmm, sounds like a familiar situation…" Alfred moved to take the dishes away.

"Play nice Alfred, Clark generally keeps up very well with both his jobs," Bruce gave a more relaxed smile that basically didn't exist outside of the manor.

"Oh but, I wasn't making a reference to Master _Clarks_ work, sir."

How the butler managed to keep such a straight face when he joked was beyond even the worlds greatest detective.

"Don't look so sour Bruce," Clark did his best not to laugh…not a brilliant effort, "There had to be someone in this world who could dish back to you. Who was to know it would be your butler?"

"Clark, the Batman still has work tonight. Do…not…start," Bruce warned.

"Start? You mean say stuff like how adorable you really are when you threaten?"

Bruce stood up, but Clark was right there with him, and took him by the wrist. Bruce gritted his teeth and raised his other fist. Clark just grabbed that hand in his spare, and tugged both arms, pulling the annoyed billionaire into a quick kiss.

"You are SO much easier to provoke that anyone seems to realise. You know I would never try to distract or delay you from your job," Kals warm smile returned, "…however, Bruce Wayne also has work tomorrow. I've spoken to Alfred, and if you're not home by three am, he has permission to call me, so I can drag your sorry behind to bed."

Bruce pulled an arm free, but then grumbled and wrapped it straight around Clarks neck, yanking him down into another kiss.

"Go get your precious sleep, reporter."

Kal laughed as Alfred returned and handed him his coat and cape, right before the Kryptonian froze in place.

"…Clark?"

Not answering, Clark looked around. To anyone who didn't know him, he looked like he was just staring at the wall.

Then, without warning, he ran off towards the front door. He barely stopped himself from breaking the handle as he pulled it open.

Wally stood posed with his fist raised, ready to knock. His green eyes stared out from under a red hoodie, turning wide as they met the surprised blue ones looking down at him.

"K-KAL!?" Wally quickly covered his mouth and shook his head, "I-I mean Clark! Sorry, I didn't…didn't know you were already!...you saw me coming, didn't you?"

"Heard you first…" Clark wasn't sure what else to say.

Wally glanced around the meta human as Bruce appeared beside him.

"Bruce, I…" His gaze drifted away, "I'm sorry, I know I've just appeared unannounced and uninvited, and…and…oh man, this really is terrible timing isn't it!?"

Bruce and Clark both watched as the young man tried pulling the hood further around his face, his body shaking in the light rain that had started.

With a mere quick glance to one another, they grabbed the speedster and pulled him straight into the house.

They both heard him swear under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed :D
> 
> Ok, so as promised...the childhood quote I mentioned was of course "Exit, stage left", which belonged to the old Snagglepuss cartoon series, which I don't own or anything, I simply enjoyed watching it.
> 
> Also, I know Clarks lips probably wouldn't be so easy to bite through...I'm normally very strict with myself about keeping things as true to the real story as possible...but heck, I couldn't resist! Hope you'll forgive me for that ^_^'
> 
> As always, sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope to update again soon! :D


	10. Now Jump

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, it was only supposed to take me a few days to get this one out...bad lazy me, bad!
> 
> Haha, so if you read the last chapter author notes, you know this is the second half of last chapter, it picks straight back up where we left off.
> 
> Hmmm...I don't think there's anything else that needs to be mentioned before the chapter.
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or any of its characters, only the plot line for this fan fiction.

The main sitting room of Wayne Manor was large and grand, yet still had a cosier feel to it.

Bruce and Clark sat on one sofa, whilst Wally sat opposite, a small towel hanging over his head. His hair beneath it was now scruffy after his effort to dry it.

They'd been sitting in silence until now, as Alfred walked in with a tray of tea and biscuits. He poured them all a cup, before leaving them be.

"Have some Wally," Bruce gently encouraged.

"Thanks…" Wally mumbled, "I…I'm not that hungry right now…"

Still, as the plate of cookies was pushed closer to him, he slowly took one and bit into it. The tiniest of smiles crept onto his face; he finished the cookie, plus two more, before he nibbled on a fourth.

"How are you feeling?" Clark eased away the silence before it could start again.

"Fine, I guess…" Wally answered automatically, but then gave a sad, sheepish grin, "actually, no, I feel sick to my stomach."

He took a large sip of tea, as if hoping that might calm him.

"I think that was the first time I've heard you say my Kryptonian name," Clark tried to ease the tension more.

"Heh, yeah, sorry. I know you prefer Clark. I really like your other name… Kal'El, it sounds cool. I usually think of you as Kal, even if I call you Clark out loud."

Clark and Bruce shared a quick look.

"I, don't really mind that much, it's mostly just a security thing when out in public, plus I grew up as Clark, so it's what I'm used to. Admittedly, those who don't know me that well? I do prefer that _they_ use my Earth name, but you and the other founders are my team AND my friends, you're welcome to use either."

"Cool, thanks. And…I AM sorry for just showing up like this," He finally looked up to meet their gazes.

"It's not a problem Wally," Bruce assured him, "You wanted to talk to us about something?"

"I do, I just…I don't know what to say, how to start or anything…"

"Take your time, we're not trying to pressure you," Clark spoke, before looking a bit shameful, "And, we're sorry that we did before."

"Naa, that's all good," that nervous, goofy grin returned, "I'm the one who can't make up his mind about what he's doing…it's just…"

The smile faded again.

"It's just…I don't want to lose, what I have…"

He gasped as he noticed how badly his hands had begun shaking, and quickly put his cup down.

"I've been hesitating because, b-because I don't…I don't want you guys to hate me!"

That caught both of them off guard; Clark and Bruce fought to stay silent as the speedster shook.

"T-the truth is…w-what I wanted to tell you both, I…"

Bruces fists clenched, whilst Kal unintentionally held his breath.

'… _why…?'_

"…I like you. I like you, a lot. More than I should, more than…than a friend."

Wally grasped at his courage as he looked up to them, and they could see he was on the brink of crying; he was truly scared right now.

"Who Wally?" Bruce spoke so much gentler than he had on the watch tower, "Which one of us?"

Wally flinched, though didn't look so much surprised by the question, more like it was the one thing he'd dreaded answering more than anything else. His breathing hitched again…he looked like he was about to freak out once more;

And then he closed his eyes as he drew a huge breath. He held it for a moment, before releasing the air, and then drew another breath.

His fingers clenched and unclenched, his breathing steadied and the shaking subsided.

"Both."

Neither Kryptonian nor dark knight thought they could've heard that right, but the speedsters emerald gaze was strong and absolute as it came to rest on them once more.

"I, I like you both, equally."

He seemed to have found his calmness, but stunned silence from the other two was NOT helping him out!

"I've known for a long time that I feel this way…well, that I like you both, it wasn't THAT long ago that I realised just how strongly I feel. I was hoping I'd get passed it, but…"

Never mind, there went the calmness again! His voice began to shake, and his body was threatening to do the same again.

"But I'm not getting passed it, I can't. I know that I shouldn't being saying this, least of all to you two, but all the time I've been keeping silent, I've felt like I've been dishonest and I DON'T WANT to do that anymore!"

He stood suddenly, clenching his fists.

"I swear I'm not asking for anything! You guys don't have to do or say anything, I'm not trying to come between you, I promise! When you two got together, I was so happy for you both, please believe me…I would never…never try to ruin what you have, I just wanted, I had to…to tell you…"

He shocked them both by dropping to his knees.

"Please, please don't hate me! I don't want to lose my friends! You can be mad, but please don't…I…I'm happy just being friends, I don't want to lose that, so please…please…"

His hysterics paused as a strong grip took his arms. He looked up to see Bruce at his side, carefully pulling him back to his feet.

"Whatever you feel, whatever you have to say…NEVER, tell yourself that you should be on your knees before us. Do you understand?"

Bruces voice was calm and controlled, firm without being harsh. Wally wiped at his eyes, and nodded lightly.

"Thank you Wally."

"For what…?"

"For being honest with us."

"We're glad you told us," Clark appeared at his other side, and touched his shoulder, "We would NEVER hate you for telling us how you truly feel, and we're sorry if we've ever made you feel otherwise."

They remained silent as they let him slowly relax.

"We…need to talk about this, Clark and I," Bruce finally spoke hesitantly.

Wally only nodded sadly.

"Hey, no matter what, we're still friends Wally," Clark spoke gently.

The speedster looked around at him in surprise.

"You're really not mad…?"

"Not at all, and don't you forget that , got it?"

There was the very lightest sound of a laugh from the speedster as he nodded.

The red head startled and glanced around as a hand suddenly wrapped around his forehead.

"Uuuh…Bruce?"

"Wally?" Bruce moved his hand down to his neck, "…are you sick?"

"Me?" Wally sounded dumbfounded, but now one of Clarks hands was on his face as well.

Were they serious? This was NOT helping!

"You are a bit warm. Are you feeling alright?" Clark looked sceptical, "I thought speedsters didn't get sick."

"It's really uncommon, but, once in a while, I do get a bit of a fever…if I stress myself out, or catch what would normally be a really bad cold. It's no big deal though, it always passes within a half hour…sometimes slightly longer if it's really bad."

"Alfred, prepare one of the spare rooms," Bruce instantly called out.

"Wha? No no! That's not necessary…" Wally held his hands up defensively, "Seriously Bats, whenever this happens, I normally sit on the sofa, watch half a movie, and it's over."

"There's the sofa, there's the TV, and the remote is on the table," Bruce answered fast, "Sit down and don't move from that spot until your fever disappears."

"But…"

"Sit!"

Wally looked like a scolded kid as he sat back down.

"You can get up when your temperature goes back to normal. When it does, you're welcome to stay, or free to go home if you'd prefer. Either is fine."

"But if you leave before thirty minutes is up, I'll hear it, and I WILL bring you back, got it?" Kal added.

"Yes sir…"

There was no sarcasm, just quiet compliance; the speedster sounded drained.

Instinctively, they both gripped him on the shoulder and passed a warm, slightly awkward smile, before they left.

They were silent until they reached Bruces bedroom.

"Is he still in the house?"

"Yep, hasn't moved."

Bruce grabbed Clarks hand, and pulled him around to face him. He yanked the taller man down into a rough kiss. Clark was a little caught off guard, but quickly responded; he wrapped an arm around Bruces waist, and actually lifted him off the ground.

Under MOST circumstances, Bruce would throttle him from doing so, but there were occasional exceptions, like right now.

He didn't pull back until Bruce decided he really did need to breathe.

"Would you mind if I took a quick shower first? I need to…" Clark began.

"Go," Bruces voice wasn't harsh; he understood.

The Kryptonian barely nodded, before he disappeared into the ensuite. Gothams protector instead sat on the large bed, giving a huge sigh as he held his head in his palms.

* * *

Bruce hadn't moved from his spot on the bed, whilst Clark was altering between pacing and standing statue still.

"So," Bruce finally spoke, if only to break the silence.

"What the heck…" Clark mumbled, and pinched the bridge of his nose, "…what the heck are we supposed to say to him? I don't even know what to think right now."

"What we tell him is the truth. The better question to focus on, is what exactly is the truth?"

"What do you mean?"

Bruce finally stood, his arms crossed over his chest as he moved closer to Clark.

"You can't tell what I'm saying?"

Clark just stared at him silently. His eyes slowly narrowed, not really angry, but serious none the less.

"You want to know how I feel about this?" He finally spoke, "I'm confused out of my mind."

"Exactly, but WHY are you so confused? You're more than just unsure how to handle his feelings, you don't know how to handle your own."

"So you really are making that accusation," NOW Clark looked mad, "You think I have feelings for Wally!?"

"Yes," Bruce didn't exactly glare, but his eyes commanded attention, "Before you ask for proof, here is one example; You act deaf and blind to everything when we have time together, and yet twice recently, you've dropped everything when you've heard his heart running just a bit faster than normal. I've never known anyone as protective over him as you, not even Shayera."

"Oh really? Because I'm looking at a prime example right now," Clark turned properly to face him, "When he fell to his knees before, you were at his side even faster than I was. It was you who dragged him to the med bay after he had that panic attack."

"You were right there behind me."

"Doesn't change the fact that you were the first to act, AND before that, you ordered him to go to the med bay when he fell out of his chair."

"Only after you proved that he'd hurt himself." Bruce grumbled, "Clark, let's stop debating and just face facts…"

"Yes, lets," Clark suddenly sounded like he'd had enough, "Fact; you clearly don't trust me."

"Oh for…! When did I say that!?"

"When didn't you!?"

Clark stormed out of the room, not even apologising when he slammed the door, and left it handing from one hinge.

"Clark!"

"Alfred, may I have my cape please?" The Kryptonian asked as soon as he was back down stairs, pulling off his shirt to reveal his uniform beneath.

"Of course sir, but is everything…?" Alfred began as he brought the man what he asked for.

"Thanks," Clark answered almost bluntly, as he took the cape and opened the front door.

"Clark! Will you just listen to me!?" Bruce yelled as he appeared in the room.

Kal didn't even look to him as he left the house, and by the time Bruce reached the front door, he was out of sight…at least until there was a thundering burst of sound, and something shot through the air a few kilometres away.

Cursing loudly and slamming his fist against the door frame, Bruce turned and raced away, clearly no longer in playboy billionaire mode, but instead now Batman on a mission.

Alfred sighed heavily; having one hard head in the household had been difficult enough to deal with, now there was also a man who could literally hold his ground like a mountain if he really wanted to.

"Oh crud…" the tiny mumble surprised him and turned his attention to the sitting area, "…am I the one who caused that?" Wally spoke hesitantly from where he peeked over the top of the couch.

He'd been feeling much better where he'd been laying on the sofa, but at the sound of shouting and storming footsteps, he'd kept his head down and mouth zipped.

"Absolutely not," Alfred immediately replied, "Those two both need serious practice in discussing their feelings. Master Kent has a bad habit of taking things personally, and Master Bruce really needs to work on wording his thoughts."

Wally sighed as he rested his head on his arms, staring absently at the floor.

"I interrupted a good night, didn't I?"

Alfred gave a sympathetic smile.

"Think of it more as you've made a change in the path, and they simply need some time to find their bearings."

"No offense Al, but, that doesn't make it sound much better…" Wally gave a sheepish smile.

"Change isn't always a bad thing Master Wallace, sometimes that's just its first impression," Alfred was calm as he left the room.

Somewhere in the distance, Wally swore he heard the booming jets of the batwing burst through the air, and had to grant he was impressed at how fast Bruce could be when his mind was set.

Still, he couldn't convince himself that what he'd done tonight was right, and started piling the left over biscuits into his mouth, hoping for some level of comfort from it.

* * *

Bruce should've put his uniform on! It would've given him more insulation than his regular clothes, which provided practically no protection against these temperatures. And besides, if anyone saw him out here with the batwing and no cowl…

"To hell!" He suddenly growled as he pushed those thoughts away with disgust.

His body temperature, his identity…what did that matter right now!?

Wrapping his arms tightly around his body, he made his way to the giant glacier that he'd landed near, and pounded his fist against the frozen wall.

"CLARK!"

No answer, not like he didn't see that coming.

"Clark! Open up!" He hit the wall again, "Damn sake Clark, you know I can't open the door! Hence how I know you're in there!"

He made a mental note to make improvements to the batwing the next time he had a chance; it could make very short dives if absolutely necessary, but it wasn't designed for water travel. He'd considered taking the bat sub, but trying to get it across the world like this would've been pushing its limits, plus it would've taken so much longer. Thus, the underwater entrance had been a no go from the get go.

"Clark…please, let me in."

He wasn't the one to ever give up, but just when he thought he was going to have to swallow his pride and do so, the wall began sliding under his hand. The entrance way rumbled open slowly, though Clark didn't come into view until it was almost fully open.

"What do you think you're doing!?" The Kryptonian growled as he quickly pulled Bruce inside, "How does a place within a barren Iceland, with a door only I can open and a name containing the word 'solitude', not clue you in enough?"

"Why do you think I came looking here and not Metropolis?" Bruce growled back, "You always come straight here to vent when we fight."

"So now you're tracking me? Did you bug me or something?"

"You'd know if I had. Like you said, the name says it all! 'Fortress of Solitude'! Come on Clark, three guesses where I go when I want to be alone…"

Clark grumbled heavily, and turned away, holding his head.

"Why didn't you at least change your clothes? Do you have a death wish? Actually, don't answer that, I forgot who I was talking to."

"You sound like you care Kent."

"I DO care damn it!" Clark turned on Bruce sharply, looking furious.

" I know you do Clark," Bruce's voice lowered, "That's the problem isn't it?"

"Oh don't start again!" The man of steel went to walk away again.

But Bruce wasn't having a bar of it this time; with the man distracted, he pounced and successfully knocked him off his feet.

"I _will_ start, because that's exactly the problem, that WE care!"

Clark had been ready to push him off, but paused.

"…what?"

"We BOTH care, Clark…" Bruce forced his voice to turn gentle, "I didn't know how you feel about Wally from watching how you act around him, but because…I know exactly how you feel."

Clark sat up slowly, Bruce still on his lap.

"Bruce?"

"I was angry at myself. Before we became official, I knew I cared somewhat for Wally, and I knew it was more than as a team mate or friend. I passed it off as a touch of affection because, well, let's face it but never tell him…because of how adorable he can be."

Clark lowered his gaze, his anger mostly faded.

"You're not wrong…"

"I chose you because I knew my feelings for you were stronger, but when he confessed to us earlier, I felt those old emotions stirring, and I took it out on you. I'm so sorry Clark, both for never mentioning this before, and for wrongly getting angry at you. I was going to tell you this back at the manor, but…"

"But I cut you off…" Clark admitted.

"I was going to say I was a brute with my words,"

Clark gave a weak, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry I took it personally and left like a child. I should've heard you out."

"Tsk, you think I never left a conversation just because I didn't like it?"

"Haha...I, I'm also sorry that, well..."

"That it never clicked before? At least you didn't convince yourself that such feelings didn't exist."

Bruce gave a sharp shiver then. Clark quickly pulled his cape off and wrapped it straight around both of them. He pulled Bruce in close, trying to share as much of his body heat as he could.

"You're such an idiot…" He chuckled playfully.

"Shut it Kent…" Bruce just grumbled half-heartedly, "...And your paying for my door."

"Write me a memo for it then Wayne."

They both fell silent for a while, just enjoying each others presence and warmth.

"Mind if I stick around for a while?" Bruce finally spoke.

"And let you get frost bite? I don't think so…" Clark spoke as he stood and pulled Bruce up, "I'm taking you back…"

He grinned as Bruce just frowned at him.

"…to Metropolis," he finished with a laugh.

Bruce shoved him slightly, more as an alternative to grumbling than anything else.

"Clark, what are we going to say to him? Because right now, I'm out of ideas."

"That's a first," Clark had to have one more poke, "Right now, hot cocoa at my place, and a quick message to tell Alfred you're not an ice cube, THEN we'll figure out our next step."

Clark led him out of the fortress, locked it up, and grabbed the dark knight before he got to the batwing.

"Don't you even think about it…" Bruce warned.

Clark just laughed, smirking at him.

"Didn't we already have THAT conversation?"

He pulled Bruce up into his arms and took off before the dark knight could stop him.

* * *

The Dawn was peering over the horizon by the time Bruce shoved Clark out of bed, demanding he get him back to the Batwing. After a ridiculously serious debate about breakfast, a speedy trip to the fortress of Solitude, a stolen kiss from Clark and a comparatively slower flight home, Bruce stepped out of the passage to the bat cave, back into the mansion itself.

Wally of course, was long gone.

"Welcome home Master Bruce," Alfred was prompt as always, "Is, all well with…?"

"Everything's fine between me and Clark, Alfred," Bruce assured him as he took the offered hot face towel, "He'll be coming back over tonight so we can talk about the whole situation. Besides, aren't you the one who once said lovers spats are healthy?"

"Yes, but perhaps I should point out that you're both already at peak health without them."

"Sarcasm is unbecoming Alfred," Bruce smirked, pulling his shirt off as he headed for the bathroom.

"Likewise, master Bruce."

Bruce opened the bathroom door before he paused.

"…Wally?"

"He stayed for about two hours after you took off, but I insisted he return home for the rest of the night…after he slammed his head on the table when he fell asleep sitting up."

Bruce looked around in shock, so Alfred quickly held his hand up.

"I checked; he was fine, just a slight bruise which was practically gone before he even left the manor. He was even laughing just after it happened."

Bruce just held his face in his palm, groaning.

"That moron is accident prone…"

"Now don't act so disgruntled sir," Alfred turned away, "You love it really."

The butler was out of the room before Bruce could get another word in, not that he was sure he even had any words right this second.

' _How I wish I could say you were wrong old friend.'_

He recalled his conversation with Clark; Wallys laid back attitude, playful mischief and vulnerability to the curse of clumsiness could often give a first impression of an annoying troublemaker…

…and ok, he COULD be an annoying troublemaker sometimes…

But honestly? The complete lack of ill intent behind any of it, coupled with his dopey, stunned expressions?

That speedster had no clue how adorable he could be!

Oh well, though he'd rather not, for now he had to put those thoughts to the side; Both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne had responsibilities to attend to today, and it would give them both…no, it would give all three of them time to breathe and think.

And dang, no matter his feelings…alone time sounded sooo good right now!

* * *

It was nearly half past nine the next night, and the weather was definitely better than two nights ago, as a timid hand knocked once more upon the heavy wooden door.

Five seconds to answer the door felt too long to his butterfly filled stomach.

"Aah, Master Wallace. Please come in," Alfred smiled as he gestured inside the manor.

"Thanks Al…" Wally offered a weak smile as he lifted his heavy feet over the threshold.

Well, the manor was as impressive and intimidating as ever…at least that part of the day was predictable.

* * *

" _Flash."_

_The speedster had flinched when he'd heard his name spoken, but smiled around at Superman as he approached._

" _What's up Supes?"_

" _Just wanted to say well done for that last mission. You handled it brilliantly."_

" _Aaw shucks Supes, you'll make me blush," Flash laughed as he stood up, "Seriously, the rogues aren't that hard to handle if you know how…" He shrugged just a bit boastfully._

_He glanced around when his hand was taken by another._

" _Honestly, it was a brilliant effort," Superman shook his hand, still smiling._

_It was a warm smile…kind and much more meaningful than a pat on the back._

' _Oh…'_

_He wasn't talking about THAT mission…_

" _Uuuh…umm…thanks. I, I appreciate that…" He glanced away, hoping his blush didn't peek out from under his mask._

" _I'd actually like to discuss it further with you later, if that's alright?"_

_Flash looked around, feeling a bout of terror try to form in his stomach, but Kals expression was still gentle and inviting, not demanding._

"… _just you?" He mouthed the words._

" _No," Kal returned the favour immediately._

_There was a moment of silence, then Wally pulled his hand back and laughed._

" _Haha! Ok Supes, if you really wanna listen to the details," He joked around._

" _I do," Superman answered calmly as he turned away, "Talk with you later then?"_

" _Yeah…of course."_

_The Flash felt his smile slip away as the Kryptonian left the room, and glanced to his clench fist._

" _Well that was weird," He looked to Shayera as she spoke._

_The Thanagarian smiled knowingly at him, but swung her seat back around without teasing further._

_Grateful but nervous, Wally raised the piece of paper he'd felt be slipped into his palm._

' _The manor, 9:30 tonight?'_

" _Yeah…I guess it's a date then…" He mumbled to himself._

* * *

Focusing on ANYTHING else today had been a painful struggle!

"Here we are," Alfred stopped by a door, "Would you care for anything sir?"

"Maybe just some water, please?" Wally smiled sheepishly, holding his throat.

"There should be plenty already on the table in there," Alfred nodded assuringly, as he opened the door.

Well his throat had already felt dry, and now his voice just packed up and left on him. He didn't know why he had to be acting quite so dramatic just yet; the room was still empty as he entered.

"Chin up and shoulders back sir, no matter what."

The door clicked shut behind him before Wally had a chance to answer the butler, and suddenly he was alone in the room. It was fairly nice, a more casual conference room he chanced a guess; the floor was sunk in the middle with cushy sofas most of the way around, there were a few bookshelves around the walls, a small fireplace to the left, a heavy wooden desk on the right and another door on the far end.

He slowly made his way to one of the sofas and didn't hesitate to pour himself a large glass of water from the jug on the coffee table in the middle. It was tempting to take the clear crystal jug and just scull the whole lot, but he wasn't about to be THAT rude!

He'd just finished his second glass when the door on the opposite end of the room clicked open.

Bruce looked around for a moment, before his eyes came to rest on Wally, and he smiled…not an expression the speedster was used to seeing from him.

"A bit thirsty?" The young billionaire joked lightly.

"A bit…" If Wally could've glared at his voice, he would've done…how dare it give no more effort than a squeak!

"Should we ask Alfred to bring more?" Clark walked in, joining the fun.

"N-no…all good!" Wally tried to grin as he placed his glass down, nearly dropping it in the process.

He kept his gaze down as they sat opposite him.

"I…heh, I don't, really know what to say…" He admitted when he finally looked up.

"We're a bit unsure how to start as well," Kal assured him, "Just out of curiosity, what made you change your mind about telling us?"

Wally glanced away, pouting a bit.

"A kick in the butt from big sis."

Bruce and Clark remembered when Shayera had interrupted them the other day, and taken Wally away.

"I thought she was just trying to protect you from us," Bruce sounded genuinely surprised.

"Ha! Oh no, when she said we were going to talk, she meant it," Wally grinned, "Shayera figured out how I felt not long after I realised it myself. She knew how much I wanted to tell you guys, AND how I kept convincing myself that it would be the wrong thing to do."

"Why on Earth would you think it was wrong?" Kal asked.

"I told you, I didn't want to seem like I was trying to come between you two. The Justice League? Especially the seven of us who started it all…you're all the best friends I ever had, you're my family. I didn't want to risk losing that over a crush…"

"Would you correct us on something?" Bruce spoke up, "Before you told us, we were both under the impression that you liked Dove…"

"Dove?" Wally sat up in surprise, "As in Hawks little brother?"

Wally snorted, before laughing.

"Ha ha! No no! We really are just friends. He's a great guy, and we like to hang out once in a while at the watchtower, but I mean, no…"

"Sorry, we clearly just mistook the situation. You both seemed kind of close the last few times we've seen you," Kal explained, "I mean, the other day, you were thanking each other, and he said you chose him…"

"Oh That!?" Wally burst in, "You thought that he…that we?"

Wally pinched his own leg to stop himself laughing again.

"He was thanking me for going to a gay bar with him. He'd been wanting to go to one for some time, but he was too nervous to go on his own. Plus, after his brother found out, he gave him some grief about it…nothing hateful, he just wouldn't back off with the teasing, so I stood with Dove as he finally gave Hawk a piece of his mind. It was quite entertaining actually. As for me, I was thanking him because, well, I really needed to tell someone…besides Shayera…how I felt. I chose him, and he even helped out by teaching me how to calm myself when I get frazzled. Heh, as you saw the other night, I still need some serious practice at it."

Bruce and Clark both breathed out heavily at the same time; it seemed like a huge tension had just left the room without them even knowing it had been holding them down.

Flash actually seemed a bit relaxed as he sat back.

"We…DID have a few dates, only like two. It was a lot of fun, but we both agreed that there were no serious feelings between us. We tried things like holding hands, pecking each other on the cheek…we just ended up laughing every time."

He shrugged, his smile fading.

"That was ages ago, before I knew I DID have serious feelings…just elsewhere."

His eyes had been darting everywhere but at the men before him, but now they turned straight ahead, not daring to move.

"That clears up a lot, thank goodness," Kal sighed with a smile.

"Thank goodness?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

"We talked long and hard about this Wally, all last night in fact," Bruce suddenly stood, looking a little too serious to make the speedster comfortable.

"And…?" Just one word, and it had been so hard to speak.

Bruce walked around the table and held his hand out. Hesitantly, Wally took it and let himself be pulled up.

"I can't promise anything would work out, in fact I think there's a good chance it wouldn't."

"Huh?" Wally felt himself shrink back a bit.

"What Mr Positivity here is trying to say…" Clark gave Bruce a scolding look as he moved closer, "…is that we hope this can work out, we just can't be sure."

"That, what can work out?"

"You might get seriously hurt down the road if we do this, or one of us could for that matter," Bruce continued.

"Guys stop!" Wally found himself panicking again as he pulled back, "I told you I wasn't going to try and get between you…I promised it! If you need me to back off more for a while, I'll do it! Just don't tell me we can't be fr…!"

With a simple gesture from Bruce, Clark placed his hand over the speedsters mouth.

"Listening?" Clark playfully scolded.

Wally nodded slightly, so Clark lowered his hand.

"We KNOW you would never come between us, and we thank you for that Wally. We're also honoured that you have such feelings for us," Bruce continued.

' _Here it comes…'_ Wally resisted a dry smile.

They didn't share his feelings, but at least they would still be his friends, that's what mattered. They weren't angry at him, that was all he needed…

' _Ha! Keep telling yourself that West…'_

"We found that while we may have come together, our own feelings weren't as, straight forward as we thought…as they should've been."

Wally just looked confused.

"Wally, I've loved Bruce for a long time, but with all his usual subtly, he made me realise and accept that, he's not the only one I have feelings for."

Wallys eyes widened.

"He isn't the only one," Bruce spoke before he could, "As I told Clark, when you came and spoke to us, we BOTH were faced with our truest feelings."

"Guys…what are you saying exactly?" Wallys insides felt like a pit of angry snakes.

"We're saying, that we like you to Wally," Clark cleared up, "BOTH of us do."

They waited for a reply, but were quite surprised when none came.

The speedster blinked a few times, but had fallen silent and still. Honestly, he looked like someone had just snapped him out of a daydream.

"Earth to the speedy jokester…" Kal teased lightly, reminiscing how Flash had said something similar to them a few days back.

"Bruce…" Wally turned his head slowly, "…I'm not sure I heard Clark right."

"Hmm, If you heard him say that we like you the same way you like us, then don't worry, you heard just fine," the young billionaire looked more than a little amused.

Now Wally looked between them, almost too fast to be safe for almost anyone else.

"Guys? Wha…I mean…?"

"Did you think yourself the only one capable of liking more than one person?" Bruce crossed his arms, but still looked like he was having too much fun with this, "Clark didn't realise how he felt until now, whilst I just forced myself to ignore it."

"But guys, why? I mean, how…just…how can you two like me?"

Both Bruce and Clark frowned at that.

"How could we not?" Clark began.

"I-I'm not putting myself down!" Wally quickly corrected, "I just mean…I thought, you both found me too annoying."

"You CAN be annoying at times," Bruce stated, "But I'm sure you think that about both of us sometimes to."

Wally glanced away, but failed not to smile and blush.

"I didn't, think I was your type…over all."

"Ha! Would you've paired me and Bruce together at first glance?" Kal laughed, "First impressions are hard to ignore, but they're never something a relationship should be based on. You might be loud and a little overbearing at times, but you have plenty of redeeming qualities as well."

"Bruce, Clark, I don't know what to say…" with the initial shock wearing off, Wally felt his heart swelling, "Except that, I'm still not sure I understand exactly what you're trying to tell me."

This time, it was two hands that were offered to him, one from each man. Unsure, Wally took both, before his breath caught in his throat as both men closed the small distance, and left light kisses upon his temples.

" _This_ , is what we're saying; what we're asking," Bruce whispered.

Wallys chest hurt; his heart was pounding too fast!

"No…no I…I can't do that!"

He jumped back suddenly, hoping he hadn't offended them with the reaction.

"Guys, thank you! I mean, I can't say how flattered I am…but that would be wrong, I can't just…"

"Wally."

Bruces voice was quiet but firm; damn was he good at bringing forward instant silence.

"Very little is wrong in a relationship if all parties consent. I told you that we talked about this, and we're certain it's what we want."

"We decided that we're prepared to take any risks that may come, but also that we won't force you to make the same choice," Clark touched his shoulder, "We're not doing this out of pity, we're completely serious, and that's why we want you to take the time and think about it like we did."

"Will you do that for us Wally?" Bruce spoke more gently this time, "We won't be upset no matter what choice you make, we only ask that you neither jump straight in, _nor_ straight out."

Wally looked unsure what to say, but after a while of thinking, he suddenly gripped their hands, and offered a shy smile.

"I will."

Clark and Bruce smiled back, and gripped his hands in return.

"Thank you," All three spoke at the same time.

Wally laughed in surprise. Clark gave a short chuckle, and Bruce an even shorter one.

"Take the time you need ok? No rushing your choice just because you're so fast," Clark teased as he gave Wallys shoulder a light squeeze, and released his hand.

Wally grinned through the pain; Clark probably didn't realise that had hurt.

"Speedsters honour."

"Then, I hate to be the party pooper, but I'm going to have to head home," Clark gave an apologetic look.

"I'll see you out," Bruce squeezed Wallys hand, then let go, "Do you need anything else in the meantime Wally?"

"No. Well, maybe another drink?" He joked.

Bruce just smirked, and suddenly handed him the actual jug.

"I'll have to head out on patrol soon as well, but don't feel like you have to rush off. Just ask Alfred if you need anything else."

"Sure, thanks."

They left the room then, and Wally must've stood holding the jug for nearly a minute before he finally looked down at it. In one go, he raised the jug and gulped down the rest of the water.

"Ok! That's the throat taken care of…" He gasped as he placed the jug back down, "…now for the legs."

He basically collapsed back onto the couch, his shaking legs celebrating that they no longer had to hold him upright.

' _What do I do? What should I do…what do I WANT to do…?'_

He steadied his thoughts and let his eyes slip closed. At this second, there was only one thing he needed…

' _Breathe, just breathe. Everything's ok now, it'll all be ok no matter what, so just breathe.'  
_

* * *

The speedster had gone home not long after Batman had gone on patrol of Gotham, he'd even caught a glimpse of red zipping through his city as he'd travelled over the rooftops. He'd returned to the manor about an hour before sun rise and had managed to get a couple of hours sleep before the duties of Bruce Wayne forced him up once more. The sun was still barely up as a knock on the door interrupted breakfast.

He followed close behind Alfred as the butler answered the door.

"Bruce?"

Wally peered in shyly , his green eyes looking a tad guilty, probably over the early visit.

"Bad time?" He grinned sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Alfeds hard cooked meal won't go cold," Bruce teased his butler slightly as the man let them be, "You look tired Wally, did you sleep?"

"Didn't think you're the only one who can stay up all night did ya?" Wally joked, clearly not at all used to doing so as he wobbled a little, "Look, I know you said not to rush my choice, and I promise I didn't. I'm certain of my decision."

Bruce made it clear he was giving his full attention, and the speedster shuffled nervously.

"I know there are risks, but I've never been one to back down from that. Not that that's what this is about, I just mean, I'm going to trust that things will work out."

He raised his gaze, looking Bruce in the eyes.

"So…is _yes_ still an option?"

The burst of thrill Bruce felt so suddenly surprised him and also left him a bit anxious.

However…

He smiled and offered his hand once more. Wally gave a light, adorable blush, and took it.

"You're certain?" He asked just to be sure.

The smile Wally gave him…so happy and pure…threatened to melt his calm demeanour.

"Positive. As long as both of you are."

Bruce grinned at that answer, and pulled the speedster forward, placing a gentle kiss to his forehead.

He let himself indulge in the faint blush, and warm sparkle of the emerald eyes for just a brief moment.

"Then get your butt over to Metropolis and tell Clark as well, and then STRAIGHT home to bed," Bruce ordered, even though he was smirking.

"Sounds like a plan," Wally grinned wide, giving a playful salute, "Will I see you at the watch tower today?"

"Not until this afternoon, but yes."

"Great! It's a date then!" Wally winked with a playful poke of his tongue, and then he was off, out of sight in an instant.

"Sir, your meetings today should only last a few hours this morning," Alfred finally spoke as he came back.

"Just because I go without a lot of sleep doesn't mean he should," Bruce smirked around at him as he walked back inside

"Is the board going to get to see that look?"

"What look?"

Bruce noticed the way he was smiling in a decorative mirror as he passed by it.

"Oh very funny. _Bruce Wayne_ has no problem smiling when needed; I doubt they'll notice,"

"I'm inclined to disagree sir," Alfred merely stated, "I'm happy for you Bruce, though, do you believe this is the right thing to do?"

"I'm not sure Alfred," Bruce leant against a window frame as he stared out, "Honestly I think this could easily go either way. But you always said you wanted me to do more of what I wanted rather than what I felt I should. Well that's what I'm doing now. I don't know how things are going to turn out, but for once, I feel good about my choice. As for how things go, we'll just have to see."

Without another word, Bruce turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving the outside world to itself for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! *claps*...finally done that part...haha! the day I can write a short chapter, I'll be asking what's wrong with me! XP
> 
> So, not intending to be a pushy nag, but I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on how this chapter came out, all the confessions and realisations etc... *puppy eyes*
> 
> As always, sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.
> 
> So, there's definitely another two chapters after this...still in progress though...can't promise any more than that though.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Will update asap!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's chapter one down, hope it was alright. As always, sorry for any shocking grammar or spelling.
> 
> Also, sorry if any of the characters went OOC, or do so in future chapters.
> 
> Well, all the draft writing for the next chapter is done, so hopefully that won't take too long to get out.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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